Grizzly Lake
by GWolff
Summary: Grizzly Lake Lodge, a beautiful lakeside getaway deep in the Alaskan wilderness. It seems like the perfect place for ten college students to get away from their troubles and unwind. But things aren't always as they seem and their trouble's just beginning.
1. Prologue Disclaimer

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to, or anything relating to, And Then There Were None. The following story—and the characters within—are completely original. **

**A/N: The characters are inspired by (but not based on) people I know. I'm working on character development and since I can't seem to create characters that stand out from scratch, I figured that I would take bits and pieces of my incredibly unique friends and use them to develop character. **

**I'm writing this to flex my creative muscle and don't expect it to be perfect, although I would love for it to be. Since this is, to some extent, an excersize, all reviews are welcome and appreciated. **

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Prologue

* * *

_Casper, Jayde_

_Conseco, Sadie_

_Ellis, John_

_Gregory, Alexander_

_LaChapelle, Misty_

_Marcus, Addison_

_Molina, Gabrielle_

_Sinclair, Dominic_

_Watson, Brooke_

_Watson, Vincent_

Letters. Amazing that these people, these identities, can be broken down into letters. When you think about it, everything can be broken down into smaller bits. Buildings into bricks, meals into ingredients, bodies into bones.

They did well. Set everything up, arranged the perfect place to die. They had no idea that in planning this weekend they were setting up the pawns in this proverbial chessboard. Sealing there own fates. Now it's time to play.

* * *


	2. Chapter 1: Pleasure Moments Hung Before

1.

Pleasure Moments Hung Before

"I forgot how miserable this god damned place is."

Addison Marcus was referring to the sweeping snow-covered countryside of her home state. Alaska, despite its breathtaking beauty and natural appeal, had never been good to her. Especially during her late teens when the extreme changes in light would play games with her psyche. Seasonal Affective Disorder, they called it. That far north of the equator, the sun would hang in the sky for twenty hours of the day. It never truly got dark in the summer. But in the dead of winter, the cycle was the opposite: twenty hours of night, four tragic hours of sunshine just appealing enough to make you crave more. The fluctuation of sunlight would send those sensitive to it into depression as dark as the sky during those months.

Precisely why, upon graduating as valedictorian from her small high school, Addy had hopped on a plane to attend the University settled in her mother's hometown. While she would occasionally long for the sky scraping peaks and feathery falling snow of the 49th state, she was happy. Stable.

It had been a year and a half since she had last traveled to her home in the ethereal Matanuska valley. On the last trip she had arrived in the middle of summer and stayed just long enough to enjoy the summer beauty and for everything to go wrong.

Now she was bundled up in layers of clothing despite being in a pickup with the heat on full blast. Even if she had been sweating, the chill clinging to her spine would not have dissipated. The driver hadn't responded to her last comment. Dominic Sinclair's mind was elsewhere.

They had met at the dawn of their high school years. Addison had been a self-conscious bookworm with a bad habit of being too nice, too accepting. She had been screwed over too many times to count and had shut herself off from the majority of her old friends. When Dominic came along, all sunshine and optimism topped with a killer wit, he had allied himself with her immediately. She could tell that he was drawn to the tragic types, driven to befriend them. She never knew why and had a feeling that he didn't either. Just a loving soul who reached out to those in need and--as in Addison's case--pulled them out of their self-pity and showed them the silver lining in every cloud.

She had fallen for him quickly. His sunny demeanor seemed to keep the pressing darkness of winter at bay. She suffered silently, afraid to approach him about her feelings. Somewhere during sophomore year he had figured it out. '_I'm trusting you with the biggest secret of my life, Addy. I know you'll keep it. You know Joe Sanders? We're boyfriends. I'm gay._' Devastated was not a dramatic enough word to describe her state of mind. But not six days later she realized what he had done. Put his reputation on the line, bared his soul and his deepest secret all so that she wouldn't suffer the embarrassment of professing her love to him and being shot down.

"I'm glad you're here, Addy." His baritone voice pulled her head back to the present.

"Me too."

Catching a glimpse of a road sign, she turned back to him--his icy blue eyes catching some distant light and flashing--and forcibly changed the tone of her voice. She was burnt out, yes, but she wanted to express her excitement.

"We're almost there, aren't we?"

"Just about," he responded with a chuckle, "and I think we're just in time. The snow's falling hard." He surveyed the road where snow swirled along the surface of the asphalt. The flakes that had persisted from Eagle River, 60 miles behind them, were now falling harder. The flakes were bigger. "So are you excited? What a homecoming!"

"I know, right?" She gushed, "I haven't seen Vin or Sadie since I started at SOU."

"And you haven't met Misty yet! I think you'll love her. She's the life of the party."

The thick trees lining the road parted a few hundred feet ahead and Dominic gently applied the brakes. The Lodge was right there, and Addy was torn between an inexplicable dread and crippling exited anticipation. She was over the moon about seeing her old friends again, but there was always the worry that they had changed; the people she once knew could be dead, replaced with similar faces but overhauled personalities.

What the night ahead held for Addison she didn't know. All she could do was face it with as much courage as she could muster. Dominic's headlights illuminated the Lodge as he pulled into the driveway.

"Ha, here we are."

It was time.

* * *

Gabrielle Molina sat stiffly among the raucous, loud, disrespectful and disgustingly jovial group she called 'friends'. The cell phone she turned over and over in her hands was useless; no reception this far out. There were landlines in the Lodge's main facility, sure, but her phone was a security blanket. Whenever she got tired of these people or didn't feel comfortable she would call someone to come rescue her. It made her feel comfortable, softened her sharp tongue. At times she contemplated whether or not she was too harsh in her judgments concerning her friends and always decided on the same answer: no. For all their redeeming qualities, these jackasses had been hard on Gabby her entire life and were ridiculously irresponsible.

Take this weekend for example. Out of the five people in the room--including herself--four had exams the following week. Five more people would be coming and three of them were in the same boat. Yet here they were, fifteen miles from the nearest gas station and thirty miles away from anything else, preparing to abuse their bodies for three days straight. She doubted any of them (save herself) would get anything above an seventy percent on their first exam. Stupid.

There were also times when she would contemplate why she was friends with these people at all. She always decided that despite all their faults they were kind, caring, genuinely friendly and... dare she say it?... fun.

As she scanned the room she pursed her lips. Letting her eyes wander over each person, she held her mind back from launching an all-out telepathic assault on them. They were excited about partying, about Addy coming home, about the potential to get laid and get wasted. The excitement disgusted her. They looked like five-year-olds.

Jayde Casper was the only person aside from Gabby who was not bouncing off the walls like a first grader with eight cups of coffee and a mistakenly-prescribed Ritalin in his system. She was truly beautiful, though Gabby was loathe to admit it. Jayde had everything a man desired: thick brown hair that cascaded around and framed her face perfectly; the almond-shaped, steel colored eyes and olive skin tone and almost non-existent eyelids that made her appear irresistibly exotic; breasts that hung just right from her chest perkily and were the perfect size to be captivating but not appear artificial; the tight body Gabby had always envied. What the boys probably didn't envision when getting intimate with their fists was her mind. She was incredibly intelligent and creative; her perfect memory logging strange and enthralling tidbits of information into some extra cerebral lobe god had blessed her with. She knew something about everything.

Gabby had been close with Jayde at first. Jayde was as innocent as she was breathtaking, her soft and high voice quite the opposite of what you'd imagine. They shared interests in books and music, theater and art. For a few years of high school they were great friends. But Vin Watson, who Gabby was tragically head-over-heels for, asked Jayde to homecoming. Gabby then realized that although she was intellectually on the same level as Jayde, men didn't care about brains. They cared about boobs. That crushed Gabby, her resentment building throughout the school year until it reached a crescendo at Prom. Gabby said a few choice words and Jayde left with a stained dress and in tears. They had resolved their differences soon after, but Gabby still harbored some ill-disguised envy toward Jayde.

Mister Vin Watson was, in fact, here, but Gabby had long since suffocated any feelings she had once felt for him. Watching him arm-wrestle with Lex was nauseating. Vin could have been quite handsome, his thick blond hair and appealing facial structure quite attractive. But he wasn't as handsome as he seemed to believe--his insistence on maintaining an inch-long goatee and the extra pounds around his gut, when added to his seeming refusal to wear deodorant, made him seem more meat-headed than attractive.

Alexander Gregori, however, was quite the looker. Even with Vin trying desperately to pin his arm to the table, Lex was intriguing. His hair, almost black, was cut short. His blue eyes seemed to harbor more history than he would ever let on--he was mysterious. An enigma. They had been friends since senior year, but she had never heard the full story of his childhood and figured she never would. Gabby's eyes fell on the collar of his shirt. She couldn't decide whether the chest hair visible repulsed her or appealed to her. Instead she concentrated on the arm-wrestling. While Vin was getting worked up and seemed really hell-bent on winning, Lex was laughing, having a good time. For Vin it was a contest to assert his masculinity. Lex knew it was just a game.

Gabby was getting restless. She had been sitting in the same spot for forty five minutes. She didn't know when exactly everyone else was due to arrive, but she was getting impatient.

Misty, the other bimbo in attendance, entered the room from the kitchen. She had a popsicle in her hand, standard slut-gives-frozen-treat-a-blow-job-and-picks-up-some-meathead style.

"Hey, there's some food! Is anybody hungry?" she asked, her voice like a cheese grater to Gabby's sanity.

Gabby wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to escape the epic test of manhood taking place in the center of the room. No matter how much she disliked Misty, she could tolerate her for a few minutes while she waited for everyone else to arrive. Her arm shot in the air in response to Misty's question and she silently rose from her seat and trudged into the kitchen. Misty followed.

"Did we bring anything other than popsicles?" asked Gabby, doing nothing to mask the acidic displeasure that laced her voice. Either Misty was immune or too dumb to pick it up, because she brightly responded.

"There's some pretzels Jayde brought, and I think Vin stuck some pizzas in the freezer."

The kitchen was small but functional. A standard oven, sink and dishwasher lined one wall. A microwave was situated on the opposite counter that served as a bar, opening up into the commons. A pantry hidden behind the refrigerator was empty except for a few grocery bags the kids had brought with them. Gabby dug the pretzels out of one of these.

The kitchen that generally served the lodge was in the main building. It was a gigantic industrial kitchen perfect for serving large crowds. The friends were spending the weekend in the dormitories, a three-story building with ten rooms, showers and a kitchen that served housing for the summer camp that was held every summer. The Lodge--Grizzly Lake Lodge--was settled on the titular Grizzly Lake. A hot spot for weddings and summer camps, the dormitories were a stone's throw away from the main building and its adjacent twelve cabins. Though they had access to the main building--thanks to Vin's grandfather, who owned the place--they chose to leave the cabins untouched. They did little to keep the cold at bay.

Misty returned to the commons to watch the boys arm wrestle. Gabby didn't like this new girl. Jayde's college roommate had quickly charmed her way into the group's good graces with her perfect bleach-blonde hair and big boobs. She was gorgeous in a trashy I-could-be-a-porn-star-if-I-wasn't-so-perfect kind of way. And she drank a lot. Gabby didn't like her. She didn't know anything about her, either, just what Jayde had provided.

The sound of a truck arriving snapped Gabby out of her pretzel-munching trance. The room fell silent for just a moment.

Jayde hopped up from the couch and ran to the window.

"Hey! She's here!"

Gabby quipped, "Who?"

"Addy! She's with Dominic!"

Jayde, along with Vin and Lex, started chattering excitedly. While they dashed out of the room to get their coats and greet their long-lost friend, Gabby stayed behind. With Misty.

"What's she like? She's not mean, is she? I've heard great things, but she's been gone for like two years. I hope we get along..." Misty was worried about meeting Addy.

Gabby rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long and excruciating weekend.

* * *

The scream pierced the silence of the cold night air punctuated only by the flakes of rapidly multiplying snow. Dominic, feet planted firmly on the ground but torso and arms still digging around the cab of his pickup, stiffened and pulled back at the noise. Addy, on the passenger side of the truck, was looking right at the source of the scream: Vin.

His apparent excitement at seeing Addison was completely eclipsed by Jayde's. Dominic couldn't help but smile as the shortest of the three tore past the boys, completely disregarding the icy gravel beneath her tiny feet, and threw her arms around Addy with such velocity and passion that the two almost lost their balance and stumbled into the open door of the truck to stay upright. They giggled and laughed, Vin and Lex coming up behind them and taking their turns greeting their long lost comrade. Almost as an afterthought, Jayde circled the truck to greet Dominic.

"Hey, gorgeous," he cooed as she approached. He wondered how she was faring since her recent split from whatever meathead she had been dating for the last six months, but wasn't rude enough--or didn't care enough--to ask right off the bat. He and Jayde shared a special connection. He knew, the knowledge stemming from somewhere deeper than his mind or loins, that if he was of 'that_ persuasion' _the two of them would be unimaginably compatible, both sexually and romantically. They were soul mates in the platonic sense of the word, and she was incredibly special to him. Though they attended the same university, the time they spent together had dwindled since the beginning of the semester. She had her meathead, he had his job. It was tragic in a sense, but their connection ensured that nothing really changed between meetings.

Never the one to discuss such profound matters (in fear that he would sound phony or attention-seeking), he left those feelings unsaid. But the fleeting glances they shared, the casual touches, the comforting words all affirmed his suspicion that she felt the same way.

Addy was positively glowing when Dominic pulled away from Jayde's embrace. He had sensed that she was nervous on the ride from Eagle River, but she was blatantly obvious in her happiness. He was glad to see her home and among friends.

Something had shifted in Addy, reminding him of high school. Back then, she had been self-conscious, imprisoned in her depression and anxiety. She rarely looked people in the eye and although she was one of the smartest girls he knew, she was quiet and never showed that side of herself. Low self esteem was what had caught Dominic's eye back then. Sitting alone at lunch, occasionally acknowledged by an old friend but never branching out, he had pitied her. _Not pity,_ he had told himself, _pity is condescending. _Something in him had always yearned to make sad people happy, to take the kids who were picked on and picked last in the school yard and befriend them. Rescue them from their sadness. Seeing that raw sorrow in someone's eyes clawed at his stomach, wrenched his bleeding heart to his lips and forced it out in the form of kind words and gentle praises. That raw sorrow tore his soul. He couldn't stand to see sorrow.

Addy had confessed to him that she was struggling academically. Her grades were slipping while her stress level rose like the temperature on an oral thermometer... the two were definitely correlated. Stress gets high, grades fall. Grades fall, stress rises. Maybe it was causing her to slip back into her old ways.

He prayed this weekend would help.

"Hey, Dommy-boy!" Vin, his strawberry-blond goatee at least twenty percent longer than it had been the last time they'd seen each other, opened his arms for a friendly hug. Dom, grinning, obliged. He tried not to grimace as Vin's abrasive sideburns assaulted his own. Resisting the urge to rub his irritated cheek, Dom responded brightly.

"How ya doin'? Great that Addy's back, isn't it?"

"Sh-yeah, she doesn't belong down there. Nine-oh-seven all the way!"

"Hallelujah," muttered Lex sarcastically as he approached.

"Hey, Dom," called Addy from the other side of the truck, "do you need help? Jayde's helping me carry my bags in... Vin, can you grab this one? It's heavy."

"No, I've got everything," Dom shouted.

Vin, next to Addy, lifted the bag. Whooping, he joked, "What do you got in here? Enough make-up to paint an elephant?" He laughed at his own misdiagnosed cleverness.

Addy, walking away with Jayde chattering brightly, called back, "Some toothpaste, too!"

Dom chuckled. "Hey, stud," he said softly to Lex. Dom initiated this embrace, pulling Lex in closely. He caught a whiff of Lex's cologne. His mind was eased like a shot of valium. Just loud enough for Lex to hear over Vin's cackles, he asked, "How is everything?"

They separated--_too soon_, thought Dom--and Lex's eyes met his. Though the arms had dropped, Lex had slyly caught Dominic's hand. Held it in his. Softly, affectionately. The two men, caught up in the moment, ignored the falling snow and the chilling breeze. Lost could have been an accurate description of how Dominic felt. Lost. Lost in Lex's eyes, however cliche that was, in the warmth of his skin on Dominic's, in the way one of his curls shifted ever so slightly in the wind, in the vapor of breath that snuck between his lips. Lost in his emotion, his feelings for this arrangement of flesh, blood, bone and hair that somehow happened to come together perfectly. He was a work of art.

Dominic reached with his free hand to brush the curl from Lex's brow. The latter turned his head to kiss Dominic's palm. "I'm glad you're here."

Separating after a moment that felt like a blissful eternity (_God, I'm overdramatic_, thought Dominic), Lex helped collect the bags and belongings that he had packed. The door was shut, locked, and everything was set. Acknowledging this, Dominic lead Lex through the rapidly increasing snow toward the dormitories. The small garden disguising a staircase to the third floor was frost-covered, and the steps that circled around it had just enough snow stuck to them to hide the treacherous ice beneath. The walkway that branched off of the stairs was surely slick as hell. It was essentially a ramp that turned toward the lake and descended down the hill to open up right on the water. Dominic was contemplating taking advantage of his likely inebriated state and sledding down it and onto the frozen lake.

Headlights appeared at the end of the driveway, turning off of the road.

"Is that the rest of them?" asked Dominic.

"I think so," said Lex. "And hey, thanks again for not saying anything yet. About us. I've just never been in a relationship with a guy before and... you know."

Dominic, arms preoccupied with his luggage, winked.

"As long as you're in my bed at some point tonight, my lips are sealed."

* * *

"Dommy!"

The name erupted from her mouth without warning, clearly startling Gabby nearby. In one impressive maneuver, Misty threw her clean popsicle stick into the trash can nearby, took two bounds across the room and leaped into Dominic's awaiting arms--in the second it took her to cross the room he had shed all the bags hanging from his arms like a skin and held them out to catch her--squealing in excitement. They had this act down to a science. Misty loved her gay boy and Dominic loved his Misty. That was how it worked. Her arms, wrapped around his neck, were pulled tight and his hands supported her hips, her legs wrapped around his waist.

She didn't hear Gabby chortle.

"How you doin' baby?" She asked, looking down into his eyes.

"Fabulous, girl, yourself?"

He let her drop and they exchanged kisses on the cheek before she turned to the group. She was smiling, excited about meeting this Addy girl everyone had been talking about so much. Immediately picking out the new girl in the room, she brought her flamboyancy down a notch and smiled politely.

The girl was undeniably beautiful, but in a classic sense. She didn't have a ton of colorful makeup and thick lip gloss on--not that lots of makeup is always a bad thing--and she still looked stunning. Gabby, whose eyes she could feel on her back, looked somewhat plain without makeup, but like she was trying too hard when she wore makeup. A lose-lose situation. But here was this beautiful girl au naturale and she was rocking Misty's rainbow toe socks!

She had thick, curly auburn hair that could only be described as luscious--it was simultaneously fly-away and soft but smooth. Totally appealing. Her smooth skin was a bit tanner than the others in the room, and Misty couldn't help but wonder if it was because of the sunnier weather down south or if Addison had some darker-skinned heritage. But the thing that really stood out about this girl was her eyes. Yellow eyes. No, not yellow. A softer, darker, more subdued honey shade that nearly took Misty's breath away. She could have stared for hours.

Instead, she swung her arms apart for a hug.

"Hi, I'm Misty!"

Addison, clearly open to the hug but seeming a bit confused, returned it. "I'm Addy, it's... great to meet you!"

"Yeah, ditto!" Placing her hands at her hips and beaming, Misty paused for a breath.

Apparently Jayde thought that a breath would be too long a pause because she jumped in, giving Misty a firm pat on the bum. She laughed, "Misty's my new roommate this semester."

"Oh, yeah?" asked Addy, "What's your major?"

"Art and secondary education, I want to be an art teacher."

"Hey," said Addy, glancing over at Gabby, "aren't you doing secondary, too?"

"History," grumbled Gabby. That was that. Addy then tried to pull Gabby into a conversation--something Misty could tell wasn't working very well, and Jayde walked away.

Trying not to make it obvious that she was staring, Misty circled the billiards table in the center of the room and kept her eyes on Addy and Gabby. There was tension between them, that much was clear. But Misty could've sworn that Jayde said they were best friends. Whatever happened there, she wasn't too sure she wanted to know.

There were footsteps on the stairs descending to the commons. Misty excitedly looked just in time to see Brooke Watson enter the room with a bottle of liquor in each hand, raise them triumphantly and let out a whoop.

Time to party.

* * *

Vin's sister was the polar opposite of him. Brooke was kind, intelligent, and gorgeous in an effortless kind of way. She and her inseparable best friend Sadie Conseco had always been the kind of girls guys lusted after in high school: fun, wild, sexy and party-loving. They could have any guy they wanted--and got all the guys they wanted--without even really trying. Sadie's favorite story to tell new acquaintances was the time Brooke, buzzing and beautiful at prom, had convinced the Prom King to come home with her. She elaborated: Brooke had been giving all the men from the Prom Court 'the eye' all night, and waited for one to be crowned. When he was, she patiently waited for his dance with the Prom Queen--who he happened to be dating--to end. She then stepped in for a dance.

Prom had been going for two hours and had four left, but Rex didn't wait. Charmed by the irresistible Brooke Watson, he had run off to the football stadium right after the dance, where she had pleased him--using his tie to bind his hands to the bleachers. She had whispered in his ear, given him her most smoldering 'I want you' look and promised him the most obscene things you could imagine. Once she had his hands bound and pants around his ankles, she whispered, "I'm in the mood to dance." Once back inside she gave Sadie the go-ahead. The Queen, frantically searching for her man, was asking everyone if they had seen him. Sadie innocently offered, "I think I saw him walking toward the stadium..."

Of all the things the girls learned in high school, their favorite was that cell phones were really good for taking embarrassing pictures--and that the Prom King wasn't as 'well endowed' as you'd think.

Now the two whispered conspirationally in the kitchen. Stifling their giggles, Brooke found the corkscrew and carefully selected a bottle of champagne.

"This one's best, right?" she asked.

"Yeah! Are you ready?" offered Sadie. She was grinning from ear to ear, strapping on a paper cone party hat.

"If we run out, do you think Ellis will drive us back to the liquor store?"

"Shut up," giggled Sadie, "we just spent two hundred bucks on booze. I don't think we're going to run out tonight."

"You're right. Okay, ready?"

"Ready."

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"

Exploding out of the kitchen, the girls whooped and hollered as they popped the shaken bottle of champagne, sending a spray over the group and the pool table. Most of them returned the cheer, rushing forward to have their cups filled. Misty looked shocked but was giggling nonetheless. John Ellis, the friend who had brought them, just grinned. Gabby looked mortified that she had been sprayed with a few drops of champagne. _Whatever,_ thought Brooke with a snicker, _that blouse is hideous anyway._

_Let the games begin.

* * *

_


	3. Chapter 2: We Were Contenders

2.

We Were Contenders

* * *

Even Gabby was enjoying herself, Ellis noted.

The party was getting wilder. Music was blaring from the stereo someone had set up in the corner and Sadie and Brooke were dancing to it, shimmying and swinging. When their pestering Dominic finally paid off and he rose to join them, Ellis smiled. He was glad he had chosen to come. Though he wasn't inclined to join the movement that seemed to dominate the room, he was getting just as much enjoyment watching it all happen. The cold cup in his hand was a reminder to enjoy himself, to let loose. He could smell the tequila, and lifted the glass to his lips and drank. The grapefruit juice washed the bitter cactus-derived alcohol down well.

Misty was giving Vin a lap dance, and the latter wasn't smart or sober enough to realize that the performance was more teasing than it was arousing. Ellis knew that no matter how hard Vin would ever try, Misty would never fall for--or sleep with--him. It wasn't that she felt superior or was repulsed by the slob, but their relationship was more sibling-like than romantic. So her shaking her ass in his face served the purpose of rubbing this fact in, taunting him. Ellis wasn't particularly fond of the guy and half hoped that she would crush his boasted-about balls with her foot. _That_ would make an excellent night.

Gabby and Addy were chatting on the sofa, the initial tension eased--or at least dulled--by the drinks. Ellis knew exactly why Gabby was hesitant to welcome back Addison with open arms... he, in fact, was feeling the same way. What she had done was unforgivable and completely inconsiderate. He had forgiven her. He could not, however, forget.

Jayde and Lex were having a great time playing some card game at the kitchen counter. Laughing it up, having a grand old time. Jayde was flying through her drinks but Ellis knew from past experiences that she could hold her liquor. He was always impressed with that, since she stood no more than five-foot-two and had almost no extra pounds on her. He caught himself contemplating whether all that alcohol went to her chest.

Sadie was slutting it up with Dominic, dancing shamelessly. He was thrilled, laughing harder than Ellis had seen him laugh in a long time, and tried his best to mimic Sadie's moves. Giving up--apparently Dom's legs weren't meant for popping, locking and dropping that frequently--he playfully called Lex over. The latter sheepishly shook his head but Brooke was right there, pulling him by the hand and pulling him close.

It was all getting to be a little much for Ellis and he decided to head upstairs.

The alcohol in his system wasn't enough for him to go wild, but just enough for him to stumble a bit as he walked out of the room and yawned. He had brought his belongings upstairs shortly after arriving, choosing his bedroom, and figured he might as well change into something more comfortable before drinking anymore.

He took the stairs slowly since his legs were tired from the long drive here. When he reached the second floor he paused at the end of the hallway. Thinking. Deciding that he did not need to use the restroom after all, he trudged past the rooms on either side of him and stepped through the door of his. The bed just inside bounced slightly as he dropped onto it. After removing his shirt--the buttons took him entirely too long to unbutton--he unbuttoned his pants and let himself fall backwards, onto his back. _I really shouldn't be this tired._

The voice just outside the door prompted him to lift his head.

"Ellis?" Jayde's voice echoed down the hall. "Marco!"

"Polo!" he responded with a chuckle. An instant later Jayde was at the door.

"What are you doing up here?"

He glanced down at himself. "Getting naked, apparently."

With a sly smile, Jayde teased, "Looks like you're struggling with that."

Ellis' chest tightened. He wasn't inebriated enough to not see where this was heading. It took him only an instant to contemplate, weigh the pros and cons, and decide. It wasn't like this had never happened before. He just didn't expect it to happen again. The smile that played at the corners of his lips was a response to his pulse quickening.

"Yeah, I am. A helping hand is always appreciated."

Jayde took two steps into the room and silently closed the door behind her. Her lips found his, even in the dark, and his breath quickened as her fingers worked their way around the back of his head and tugged at his hair. This was going to be a good night after all.

* * *

"Well," said Dominic with a sly grin, "this is really embarrassing."

"Shut up!" pressed Addy, "Tell us!"

"I'm ashamed," he confessed with a shrug.

"I've heard this story," interjected Sadie, "and it's funny. He's not ashamed, he's proud."

Dominic, trying to catch his breath between fits of laughter, conceded, "yeah, okay. It was awesome." His grin faded. "It was mean, though!" he insisted. "I guess it did show her true colors..."

"Come _on," _begged Addy.

"_Fine_," sighed Dominic, clearly loving the attention. "So back in Junior year, you remember when I went through that 'raver' phase?..."

Lex listened carefully, enraptured. He loved the way Dominic spoke. His barely-there arrogant grin, the way in which he carefully elaborated on his stories, his hands dancing around at the level of his chest to emphasize his emotion, his natural knack for the dramatic. The way he'd slip off into tangents and get so excited that he spoke a million miles an hour so that he could get back to the main story. The way his digressing drove him insane. His lips moving, the fact that although his smile was perfectly symmetrical he favored one side of his mouth when talking so he had this adorable crooked grin throughout his speech. The light behind those perfect blue eyes. His self-proclaimed 'edgy' hairstyle getting messed up when he would express his frustration in parts of his stories by tugging on it. His baritone voice that would ascend from rousingly deep to amusingly high while he began to speak faster...

Lex was sincerely in awe of this being. The love he refrained from expressing with words he tried desperately to convey to Dominic through fleeting glances, through subtle touches, the tone of his voice as their bodies entwined in sheer ecstasy, the way he said Dom's name during intimacy. Lex knew he loved Dominic. He just couldn't bring himself to say it. He felt--and hoped more than anything--that Dominic understood.

"...Well the reason I jumped on the raver bandwagon in the first place was because I was in lust with this guy who I was convinced was queer. And _oh-my-god _if he didn't turn out to be the most vagina-hungry, STD collecting S-O-B to walk the earth. You remember him, Sadie? Yeah, yeah you do. The way he tried so hard to pick you up outside of the movie theater? God, how nauseating can you get?

"Anyway, I went to this rave with this really disgusting bimbo that I met at youth group in like sixth grade when I still went. So we get dressed up, get all kinds of psyched to go raving, you know how it is. So I get that girl Amber who tried to sleep with me--this was before that, so don't worry--get her to drive us there. So it's me, Amber and this girl Becky.

"We get inside and things are going well. I see this guy that I'm totally hard for and I talk to him, chat him up. He tells me and Becky that some guy is selling E at a great price. I happen to know this guy from some party I had gone to on Halloween. He remembered me, and Becky was dying to try E. So she says, 'hey, Nicky...' yeah, she called me Nicky. Like Dominic, Nick, Nicky. Pissed me off but I never really had nicknames, so I dug it.

"'Hey, Nicky, can you buy some E for me?' and I tell her, he's right over there. He'll sell it to you. Just take your money to him and tell him what you want. Don't worry. And of course she's like 'I'm scared, I can't do it. He's a _drug dealer_.' So I'm like, 'sure, yeah, don't worry.'"

Lex could tell that Dominic was getting really into the story. He was commanding the attention of everyone in the room. Gabby, still lounging on the sofa against the far wall, was leaning forward in anticipation. the rest of the group was in a makeshift circle around Dominic, watching him intently. Lex smiled, proud of his baby. He was an entertainer. And... was this really turning him on? Something about everyone being so _into_ Dominic--even if it was just into his story--aroused Lex. He was getting excited.

The bond between the two men had been like iron since the moment Dominic had confessed his feelings for Lex. They had been friends for a good year--if you could call them friends, more like friendly acquaintances--and things had been building for a couple of weeks. This was just after high school. Dominic had gone to school somewhere in Eagle River and Lex in Anchorage, so they had never gone to school together or met. Shortly after Dominic moved to Anchorage to start college, they met and hung out a handful of times at parties hosted by mutual friends. Lex wasn't 'out of the closet' because he felt that there was no closet to come out from.

He considered bisexuality a term trivialized by attention-seeking young girls growing into skanks who used it as an excuse to kiss other girls at parties to get the attention of guys they knew would plow them in a heartbeat. Besides, he didn't feel that it fit him. Polysexual was a better term. The easiest way for him to describe his 'orientation' was simple: he was sexually attracted to anyone he was emotionally attracted to.

Which was how it started. The only times they had ever spent alone were times when they both showed up early to a group gathering or party--something that soon became an unspoken arrangement. They would show up fifteen minutes at first, then twenty minutes, forty five, an hour. They bonded slowly, enjoying each other's company more than anything. 'The talk' had started innocently. Dominic, who had never been shy about who he was, casually mentioned something about a sexual experience he had found strange. Something about his partner's dangleberries. Lex, who had only been with another man once before and had never divulged this information to anyone, responded with a story of a similar experience. For all intents and purposes he had just come out of the closet. And Dominic was right there to confirm what Lex had been suspecting for weeks. "I'm starting to realize that I have feelings for you, Alexander Gregory. And if that makes you uncomfortable, I understand and think we should..."

Dominic never finished that sentence. Lex had instinctively pulled him into a kiss, a kiss that changed everything and opened his eyes to something he had never before felt in such magnitude: love.

Two weeks ago, to the day, Lex had spent the night with Dominic in his cheap studio apartment. Something had been weighing on his mind. Dominic, using some sixth sense Lex couldn't have anticipated, knew. Lex had been on his side, sheets draped carelessly over his hipbone. His arm was going numb, tucked under his pillow so his head was cutting off the circulation. He hadn't noticed. Figuring Dominic was asleep, he stared mindlessly across the room. Thinking. The hand that had slipped beneath his arm and found its way to his stomach caught him off guard. Dominic's fingers traced invisible lines and foreign symbols across his abs, disturbing the hair there and eventually settling just beneath his chest. "_Something's bothering you,_" the words more of an observation than a question. Lex had been silent. The soft kiss against his shoulder had somehow pushed him over the edge into forbidden territory and for the first time in a long time he had cried.

When all was said and done Lex had done something he had never done before: tell his story. The love he felt for Dominic in that moment, as Dominic's soft arms, feeling like a steel barrier against everything Lex was scared of, held him until his tears dried and he slipped into disturbed dreams, was limitless. Undying. Real.

"So I take her money," Dominic was wrapping the listeners around his story telling little finger tighter and tighter, "and walk up to this guy. Tell him I need E. He gives me an option and I have no idea what the difference is, so I take what the hot guy had suggested. Grab a bottle of water and with the E in my hand make my way back to the dance floor.

"Now you know those beads ravers are obsessed with? Call 'em 'candy' beads? The thick little plastic--yeah, those. Well I happen to be looking down and see one little stranded candy bead on the floor. And this idea crosses my mind. I think, _what if..._ I get back to Becky and act all sly, like I'm expecting to get caught. I take her hand and shove the bead into it. Hand her the bottle of water. 'Quick,' I say, 'take it. Before anyone sees.' And she does. Just like that, swallows this bead."

The room's noise could be easily separated into two categories: gasps and sharp, triumphant laughs.

"So of course I take the E pill and bring it to the hot guy, slip it to him, tell him what I did. He thinks it's great and drops the bomb. I think 'whatever, I'll dance with him once it hits.' Turns out I had to babysit Becky all night because she was acting like a total slut, acting like she was rolling. She would get all up on these fat, sweaty guys and rub her shit in their faces. 'Touch you...' she'd say, 'oh! Touch _me!_' Oh boy, that was a bad night. So I get home and crash, Amber sleeps in the living room with Becky on the floor. Turns out Becky spent half the night fingering herself and moaning loud enough to keep Amber awake."

The laughter turned into disgusted giggles. Dominic relaxed in his seat, pleased with himself. The group started talking, Vin asking, "Was this chick hot?" Dominic replying, "Did I _not _describe her as a disgusting bimbo?" "Well yeah, but was she hot?"

Lex, as amused with the story as everyone else, stood and wandered to the kitchen to fix himself another drink. He was getting tired. But as he glanced across the bar and made eye contact with Dominic, those ethereal blue eyes that beckoned him, his exhaustion dissipated. _Let's blow this party and get our own started._

Gabby, slurring her words, shouted, "Has anyone seen Jayde?"

* * *

Vin was nearing the point of no return. Already considerably wasted from the champagne and rum he had been drinking since the arrival of his sister and the booze two hours prior, the tequila he was now sipping on would floor him sooner or later.

He was hoping later. He'd like to get some fun in.

Ellis stepped into the kitchen with an empty glass, catching Vin off guard.

"Hey, dog," he said, drawing out the vowel in the latter word and giggling at its sound, "where ya been?"

"Upstairs," said Ellis softly. Vin assumed he had a headache; he was slightly pale and was squinting in order to see what he was doing. Then again, Vin realized, it could be the impressive amount of alcohol he had downed.

"So," started Vin, respectfully keeping his voice level down--to everyone else, it still sounded near a yell; volume was one thing Vin lost control of when he had been drinking--so he wouldn't aggravate Ellis' headache. He swayed a bit, setting down his glass so he could steady himself with a hand on the counter. "You glad Addison's back? It's been so long since she's been around. I really missed her. What do you think's so good about Oregon, anyway?"

Ellis, unscrewing the cap of the tequila bottle, began filling his cup. After stirring in some limeade, he replied coldly, "I didn't miss her as much as everyone else did. I don't know what's so good about Oregon, but I think it's a perfect place for her to run off to when a friend needs her."

Initially furrowing his brow in confusion, Vin's jaw slackened as he began to understand what Ellis was referring to. "Oh... come on, man. You're not still mad about that, are you?"

Ellis froze. He turned to face Vin. There was fire in his eyes but his voice was even colder when he said, "Yes. I _am_ still _fucking _mad about it." An exasperated laugh was followed by, "you really are as incredibly dumb as you are ugly. God damn stupid ass piece of shit." Jaw clenched, he turned to storm out of the kitchen.

It took only a moment for Ellis' words to hit Vin. When they did, his mind blanked. Maybe the tequila had just hit him, maybe he was just sensitive to insults. Maybe he just had anger issues. Whatever the reason, the room fell silent as his glass shattered against the wall where he had launched it. The drink sprayed in every direction, a shard of glass catching Ellis' face. Ellis, reacting to the contact, instantly spun on one heel and dropped his glass on the counter beside him, the spilled beverage quickly spreading to each corner and beginning to run off onto the floor.

"What?" pushed Ellis, "bitch can't take the truth?"

Two steps forward and Vin's open palms found Ellis' chest, shoving him violently backward, sending him stumbling into the room beyond. Gabby, almost directly behind Ellis, hurried out of the way.

"What the hell?" she shot at the feuding boys.

"Your brother was a faggot-ass pussy," jeered Vin. The following silence was complete and lasted only a fraction of a second. Long enough for Gabby's jaw to drop and eyes stretch in horror, Addy's hands to fly to her mouth, Brooke to leap to her feet, fuming and Sadie to latch onto her arm to stop her. Long enough for Dominic to leap out of his chair, for Lex to reach for his hand in pleading worry, for Misty to peek her head out of the bathroom down the hall, for Jayde to swallow her mouthful of champagne.

Then all hell broke loose.

Dominic's accusing, "What is your problem, shithead? You don't say that!", Brooke's "Vin, you _stupid, don't start shit!"_, Gabby's "How _dare_ you!?". Contact was made three ways. Ellis' charging shoulder into Vin's stomach, Vin's fist into the back of Ellis' head and Gabby's hurled glass into Vin's nose.

The fight lasted only a minute before it was broken up.

When all was said and done, almost everyone had spread to their respective rooms. Vin, lying in his bed with Brooke holding a plastic bag of ice to his nose, was trying to hide his tears. It wasn't as though Brooke had never seen him cry before. He was ashamed. Not used to feeling guilt, Vin knew this incident was entirely preventable and completely his fault. He had been completely out of line and had attacked Ellis below the belt. He had offended at least three people. The rest, he was sure, were upset with him for starting the drama at all.

"Brooke, I want to be alone."

"Sure, bud." Gently removing the ice, she stood. With sad eyes she looked down at him, wishing that she could reach out to her brother and really communicate with him. Vin looked away. He missed being able to talk with Brooke, but things had changed. "I'm leaving this ice here," she said softly and setting the bag on a table near the door, "just in case you need it again. Love you, see you in the morning."

He didn't respond.

* * *

Jayde sat in the now-empty kitchen with Misty, using towels to clean up the mess. She felt odd, a strange ambivalence about Ellis' behavior. She still felt dirty from their intimacy, and his explosion of emotion so soon after their tryst frightened her. _Only forty-five minutes ago we were in his bed,_ she thought weakly, _and now Gabby's patching up his battle wounds._

She was shaking. The alcohol was still pumping through her system and she suspected that it had something to do with the chill crawling down her spine.

"Jayde…"

Jayde looked up. Misty, seated on the counter above her with a rag in hand, mopping up the spilled tequila and lime, looked unsure of herself. Jayde's stomach sunk, knowing what was coming. She hadn't told Misty about the dark past the group of friends shared and wasn't eager to divulge the information now. But after what had happened, she felt Misty had a right to know.

"…what was that all about? I—I was so scared, I've never seen anyone that mad before."

Misty wasn't talking about Vin, oh no. She knew Vin had a dull wit and a sharp temper. Everyone practically _expected_ behavior like that from Vince Watson. But John Ellis, on the other hand, was always so composed. So mild mannered. Jayde herself could hardly believe what had just happened.

A moment to compose herself. That's what she needed.

"Just a second," she told Misty, "I'll be right back."

Setting the damp towel in the sink, Jayde slowly walked out of the kitchen and turned down the hall, easing past the stairway and slipping into the restroom beyond. She flipped the light switch, also initiating the fan to start spinning, and shut the door behind her. When she looked at herself in the mirror, faucet running beneath and splashing the occasional drop onto her shirt or arms, she was expressionless. Emotionless. Aging. She hadn't felt any sort of guilt from being intimate with someone in a long time; didn't know why she felt it now. The only thing she could think of—and didn't want to admit—was that seeing the rage in Ellis' eyes had truly unsettled something deep within her. Terrified her.

"John Ellis was the second boy born in his family," she started softly as she returned to the kitchen. Misty, who had been wringing out her towel in the sink, stopped and turned. She leaned against the counter and settled into a comfortable position. "He had a brother, two years older. His name was Jeremy.

"Since we were all in the same grade as John, we eventually met Jeremy. Very nice guy, played on the football team when we were freshmen. Great in school, great looking… the all-American boy. Our junior year I had been dating John for a couple months. You know how high school romances are... all show, no real commitment. Anyway, we broke up just after the school year started. Vin was junior varsity quarterback, in shape and all kinds of popular. You know he actually used to be a nice guy?" She laughed sadly. "It's amazing how just a little change from JV to first-string Varsity can give a guy an ego.

"Sorry, I'm getting nostalgic." She felt a tear slip down her cheek. Jayde hadn't even noticed her own voice crack, and she was struggling to keep her composure. They were good memories tainted by a tragedy. She would never see them the same way, and that was a harder fact to accept than anything.

"Tissue?" asked Misty sympathetically. Jayde shook her head.

"I'm fine. So, Gabby had a crush on Vin. Like a major crush. Homecoming was coming up and he was oblivious to how she felt. So we were eating lunch one day and he just strutted right up and asked me. I said yes, I was more than happy to go with him. Trying to make John jealous, you know? Well Gabby decided to make _Vin_ jealous by taking _John_. Kind of backfired, since Gabby and I were the only ones feeling jealous at all. The boys were just happy to have a girl to dance with.

"Well after the dance I told Vin that I only wanted to be friends. I didn't see him as a boyfriend type. He shook me off and started screwing some cheerleader and John and I got back together. That killed Gabby—she didn't even have her backup man. She hated me for a while. And whatever kooky gears she's got turning around inside of her head convinced her that first of all, trying to make every guy who ever looked at her jealous with another guy was a good idea, and that she could make John jealous—and spite me if it worked—by dating Jeremy.

"Turns out the two fell head-over-heels for each other right away. They were a match made in heaven. They dated all through her last two years of high school and right after she graduated, he proposed. They set the wedding date for the next autumn—September, when everything is breathtaking. The perfect wedding. Then there was an accident at the beginning of August. Jeremy died."

That was apparently enough for Misty. She set down the towel and embraced Jayde comfortingly, using her own sleeve to wipe the tears from Jayde's face.

"Go to bed, sweetie. I'll finish up here."

Between shuddering breaths Jayde nodded, turning and fleeing up the stairs.

Once her door was safely shut behind her, she sobbed.

* * *

When Misty finally navigated her way to her bedroom forty five minutes later, the dormitories were silent. Passing Lex's room, she briefly wondered why his door was open and he wasn't in bed. The thought was gone two steps later and she was unconscious the moment her head hit her pillow.

* * *


	4. Chapter 3: We Looked at Them Eleven Ways

Sadie Conseco knew the moment she opened her eyes that getting up would be a mistake.

The nearly intolerable throbbing behind her eyes was the first thing she noticed, since it meant her eyes were only open for a fraction of a second before she squeezed them shut again. Next was the sour, leftover-alcohol taste stuck to the roof of her mouth. At this bitter epiphany she gagged, bringing her to her third realization: her stomach was empty and the previous night's alcoholic binge had not been kind to it.

Hangovers. Bah.

It took her a good twenty minutes to coax herself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. The standard extreme-hangover-confusion was present: she was having trouble piecing together where she was, what she was doing here and why she was alone. Silently and halfheartedly pledging to never drink again, she eased herself off the bed and onto her feet.

It seemed like every step Sadie took cleared her head and by the time she reached the shower down the hall she was completely functional, if still a bit... unstable. Though she hadn't bothered gathering up a change of clothes for her post-shower day, Sadie wasn't bothered. There were plenty of towels in the bathroom and on top of being 'shameless' when it came to her body, she didn't have anything the friends collected in this building hadn't already seen.

The water cascading from the shower head took a good minute to heat up, and Sadie took the opportunity to look herself over in the bathroom's enormous mirror. Tucking her flowing hair behind one ear, she inspected her teeth, her skin, her eyes. Still having trouble focusing, she decided to postpone her inspection until her body was clean and her head clear. She disrobed in the center of the bathroom, tossing her slept in panties and tank top on the counter and turning to the shower stall.

The instant she let the water overwhelm her Sadie felt worlds better. Nothing like a good shower to ease a hangover.

Recalling events from the night prior, she wondered how Vin was faring. Brooke had confided in Sadie about her brother's teary recovery. Sadie had known Vin for years--she and Brooke had been inseparable since middle school, and you don't become best friends with someone without building a relationship with their twin. Despite his tough-guy act which coupled with his not-so-high intelligence made him a total--dare she admit it?--douche, he had good intentions. And although he had a quick temper he was truly a gentle guy.

Oh, the golden days. In seventh grade, when Vin was pre-gut and pre-football-jock-meathead and Sadie still had her virginity intact, they had shared a close bond. Brooke was just beginning to date and Sadie, eager to keep up, was starting to take more of an interest in the male population. Though Brooke would occasionally try to arrange 'dates' between Sadie and some of their classmates, Sadie just wasn't ready to establish herself as available yet. She wanted to take it slow. And secretly had feelings for her best friend's brother.

When Sadie would visit their house, she and Brooke would often spend hours in B's bedroom, reading gossip magazines and experimenting with cosmetics. Sadie would sometimes excuse herself, claiming she needed to use the restroom or call her parents to check in, and on her way she'd casually stick her head into Vin's room. "_Whatcha doin'?"_ she'd ask. Possibly picking up on her signals, he'd invite her in and show her his video games or his legos. She would sit close, innocently touching his knee with hers or brushing her fingers against his hand while he was demonstrating how to operate a game system. She had grown out of that phase, but the two would still share a special look every so often and the butterflies would return, if only for a moment.

"Hey! Knock-knock!"

Dominic's voice pulled Sadie out of her thoughts. Peeking through the shower curtain, she saw that he was alone and peering into the bathroom.

"I need to pee!" he yelled. Grinning, she disappeared back into the shower stall.

"Come on in! I'm almost done."

Dominic closed the door behind him. He looked disheveled, Sadie noticed, but not as hung over as she felt. She turned off the water just in time to hear him turn on the sink to wash his hands. She shook out her hair and pulled the curtain aside to stick her head out. He saw the movement and looked up, grinning at her.

"Can you hand me a towel, you sexy gay man?"

"Just because you flatter me," he giggled. Selecting a towel from the rack, he held it out to her. She took it and he asked, "You want your clothes?"

"Not yet," she replied, taking the towel to her dripping face.

"Alright, I'll give you some privacy. Love ya!"

As he neared the door, Sadie wrapped the towel around her torso and stopped him. "Wait! Not yet." She stepped out of the shower, taking another towel to dry her hair with. Why hadn't she thought to bring a blow dryer?

She lowered her voice to an almost-whisper. "Dominic. Tell me."

He turned red and began rubbing his fingers together, a clear sign that he was uncomfortable. Before Sadie had gone to bed the night before, she had stepped into Dominic's room. She tended to get very social--very clingy, some people said--when she was intoxicated and had felt it necessary to announce her decision to go to bed. Upon opening his door she had heard an audible gasp... and seen someone duck under the sheets. Though it was obvious that someone was getting busy with her dear friend Dominic she had chosen to not point it out. Dominic, knowing that she had seen, had given her a pleading look and held a finger to his lips. She had chosen the high road and not informed the sheets-hider that she had seen them, instead announcing her retirement and leaving.

But the curiosity had been killing her. Since Dominic was admittedly a 'flaming homo', there were only three people who could be the sheet diving culprit. Ellis, Vin and Lex. Ellis had just been in a fight with Vin and the two had disappeared, and Sadie honestly wouldn't put it past either of them to take out their frustration in the form of sexual experimentation. Though she would like to think that Vin wasn't so inclined. Lex, on the other hand, was so quiet and mild mannered that she wouldn't think of him like that. Still, it struck her that a possible sexual identity crisis could be part of the reason he was like that. It was really anyone's game and she was eager to see who took the gold.

Dominic spared her the insult of pretending not to know what she was talking about. Instead, he gave a defeated sigh and walked to the counter where he hopped up, sitting beside the sink with his feet dangling above the ground. Sadie took the opportunity to collect her clothes and drop her towel, unabashedly dressing in front of him.

Though Brooke held the title of best friend, she and Dominic had built an epic and undying connection with each other. Sadie and Brooke had their ups and downs, close enough to have ground shaking arguments and be back to normal by the time they caught their breath. But she and Dominic had the most fun, and anything they did together turned into the best moments of her life. They had never argued which was something that kept their friendship from reaching its full potential; Sadie felt that without exploring whether or not their friendship could survive such turmoil it could never solidify completely.

He waited until she was clothed--still in panties and a tank top, but it was a step up from a towel--and held out his hands. She took them in hers and looked into his eyes. His childish excitement could be seen in them like through a window. Clearly he hadn't told anyone about this and had been dying to.

"Okay," he started, the energy in his voice nearly throwing her off balance. With her hangover she couldn't begin to imagine what that kind of excitement felt like. "So, this is a total secret. _Total_ secret. ...Lex and I are together. Like dating."

Her jaw dropped. "Since when?"

"A while ago. The point is... Sadie, I'm in love with him!"

She was taken aback. Dominic had never had luck in love... this was huge. And the elemental ecstasy on his face was thrilling.

"He's the most amazing guy. He's sweet, intelligent..."

"Is he _gay?_"

"Polysexual. Turned on by anyone he has feelings for. But he--"

A knock at the door caught him off guard. Sadie called, "yeah?"

From the hallway, Jayde practically whimpered, "I have to pee... lemme in?"

* * *

Addy felt sick, and it had nothing to do with a hangover.

Absent mindedly washing down a scrambled egg with a glass of leftover grapefruit juice--she had checked to make sure no one had added tequila to the bottle--she played the events of the night over and over in her head like a disliked song someone in the other room has on repeat. Jayde had been keeping her company but since she had scurried off with her thighs pressed together there was nothing to keep Addy from hearing Ellis' words over and over.

It was late enough that the lake outside was visible from her seat in the commons. The windows set into the far wall looked out at it. By this time of year it was frozen and covered in a good foot of snow. The half-light visible even through the pregnant clouds that still shed snow around them would be gone in three hours time. The thought wasn't appealing to her. It was dim outside, just light enough for her to see the near shore of the lake through the falling flakes, and she hated the thought that this was as light as it would get.

It seemed like the winter mirrored her inner emotion: perpetually dark and cold. Only the occasional break in the clouds of warm breeze from the ocean would lift her spirits, and now wasn't one of those times.

_"I didn't miss her as much as everyone else did. I don't know what's so good about Oregon, but I think it's a perfect place for her to run off to when a friend needs her." _His words cut deep. At a time when she needed the love and support of her friends, they cut like a razor. "_Oh... come on, man,_" Vin had argued, "_You're not still mad about that, are you?_" Addy had known the answer before Ellis had offered it. _Of course he is._ As things took a turn for the worse, Ellis had confirmed, "_Yes. I am still _fucking_ mad about it._"

Ellis had become a dark person since Jeremy's death. Simple disagreements had become grudges, blaming seemed to be the game. And Addy had lost without ever playing. She recalled the day it happened, something she hadn't done in a long time. It still made her sick. Thunderbird Falls, the group's primary hangout spot during high school, was where they had met one last time before she returned home. The shock of Jeremy's accident had just manifested itself in the form of grief and Addy knew herself well enough to see the earth-shattering despair that would destroy her barreling along at a hundred miles an hour, coming right at her, knowing that if she didn't leave she would be standing right on its tracks. Directly in the path of an oncoming train.

Dominic and Jayde had been there, Sadie had brought Vin. Brooke hadn't left the house since the accident but sent her regards. They were keeping it quiet, knowing they'd eventually be reunited. There were no tears. The shock was still holding each of them in a cocoon of stoic, unfeeling numbness, and they all secretly knew that the tears would come eventually. Shouldn't be wasted there.

Their good-byes said, Addy had climbed into her car amongst her luggage. No sooner had she triggered the ignition than Ellis' car came speeding into the parking lot. Screeching to a stop no more than ten feet from Addy's vehicle, Ellis had thrown himself out of the driver's door in a rage. Addy had been terrified. No one had ever seen him lose it.

"So what?" he raged, "you're just leaving? Running out? Running away? Trying to escape your problems? Well guess what, bitch? Even if you hide across the world, Karma's going to track you down and kick you in the ass. You--what are you thinking? You can't just skip town when your friend dies! _Especially_ when you could have done something about it! You can't leave two days before his funeral! What kind of heartless monster--"

Aghast, Addy hadn't noticed Gabby climb out of Ellis' passenger seat and approach her door. Gabby's knock startled her into a yelp. She was panicking--there was no other way to describe it. A mellow farewell turned into this screaming verbal assault in virtually no time... she was at a loss. More confused than anything.

Fear in her eyes, Addy had opened the door for Gabby. Gabby looked so sad; losing a fiance doesn't exactly leave someone looking pleasant. Addy, expecting some kind of explanation for Ellis' fit, started to speak. "Gabby, what--"

The slap had hurt for weeks. Though the initial sting lasted only minutes, the pained, horrified expression in Gabby's eyes as her hand caught Addison's face had damaged her permanently. She had fled, fled to the airport, fled all through the flight, fleeing more in her mind's attempt to run from the pain of that summer than any relief a physical move could provide.

When she had pulled into Grizzly Lake Lodge with Dominic, her biggest fear was that Ellis and Gabby would still feel those feelings of betrayal. She had known the moment they weren't at the truck to greet her. But Ellis' comments left her feeling drained. Hopeless.

Footsteps. Getting louder as they descended the steps from the second floor, they were enough to draw Addy out of her self-pity. She smiled weakly at Dominic and Sadie as they rounded the corner and stepped into the commons.

"Morning, sunshine!" said Dominic, practically glowing.

Addy closed her eyes and smiled. "Morning."

Dominic was scanning the room for something, peeking his head into the kitchen at one point and looking behind furniture. Finally, his eyes falling on Addy, he let out an uncharacteristically high-pitched, "Aha!"

Hr rushed over, excusing himself as he pulled his jacket out from behind Addy--it had been hung on the back of her chair. He threw the sweater on one sleeve at a time, pulling up the hood before zipping it closed. He felt around in its pockets, confirming whatever he had been looking for was there, and smiled up at Addy.

"I'm going out for a cigarette, you want to come?"

Addy paused, swallowing another mouthful of orange juice before responding.

"Sure!"

Feeling a bit more like herself by the time they climbed down the snow-covered hill between the dorms and the lakes, she caught herself laughing as Dominic tripped near the lake's edge. Picking himself up with a half-panicked look on his face, he felt inside his sweater pockets and, clearly relieved, yelled, "Houston, crisis averted! The cigarettes are okay. I repeat, the cigarettes are okay!"

The only real way they could differentiate between the ground and the frozen lake was slowly approaching it until they felt the change in texture beneath their feet. Sadie, expressing concerns that the lake wasn't really frozen and that she'd fall through as soon as they found it, stopped without warning.

"Guys!" she screamed, "_Guys!_ I think I found it..."

Addison lit a cigarette, welcoming its warm filling of her lungs, and grinned as Dominic followed her lead. With the cigarette in his hand he walked toward Sadie.

"Oh man, am I getting close? Am I--am I close? What do you think, is the ice gonna crack when we're both on it? You know that the ice is thinner at the edge of the water than it is in the center--"

Sadie, turning white, scrambled away from the water's edge and slapped his arm.

"_Not_ funny, Dom!"

Dominic turned to Addy, passing his half-smoked cigarette to Sadie.

"So I never found out... did you get to go to that concert? The, uh..."

Addy's eyes widened. "_Spelling Wednesday?_"

"Yeah! That one!"

"Oh-my-god, yeah!" Worries forgotten, at least momentarily, she unloaded the story of her experience at the show--which had begun with a lost ticket and culminating with a kiss from the band's lead singer--with viscous excitement and passion. Cigarettes finished, they trekked back up the hill and to their building.

"So," concluded Dominic, "what started as a frustrating night that could have been tragic... turned in to the best night of your life. Awesome."

Giggling, Addy said, "I know, right? Totally unbelievable."

-

Jayde saw only black. She was seated at the table with Lex, her face buried in between her folded arms, resting on the cold surface. He looked pretty thrashed, and she could feel the cheap table shift every time he picked up his water glass and drank in a desperate attempt to rehydrate his body. _Good luck, kiddo_, she thought, _we drank enough last night to last most people a month_.

Addison's voice floated into her ears as she entered from the door upstairs, letting the cold in with her. From the sounds of it Dominic and Sadie were with her. Though she was glad they were feeling alright, Jayde was in no mood to greet them. She sighed into her elbow. When she felt the table shift again, it wasn't Lex tinkering with his cup. Uninterested, she readjusted until she was comfortable. But Lex's voice, closer than she expected, drew her focus.

"Hey, Jayde, do you have any midal?"

This was interesting enough to warrant a response from Jayde, who lifted her face and cocked an eyebrow at the boy sitting across from her.

"Excuse me?"

"Midal. You know, the medicine for cramps and stuff when you're on the--"

"Yeah, I know. What the hell do you need midal for?"

Lex chuckled, wincing at whatever pain it caused his head. "Hangovers. It's a miracle med for them."

"Where did you hear that?" She was genuinely interested in this holy grail of hangover cures.

"High school science teacher."

"...not gonna ask," she sighed, "but I don't. God. Um... ask Misty, I think she's starting her cycle this week."

"Alright. Thanks."

Jayde returned her face to the table, falling silent once again. It was a full minute before he rose from his seat, apparently having to muster the strength and the stomach to even do that much. Though any noise sent needles into her eye sockets, her hangover hearing was always more sensitive than usual. She heard him wander to the kitchen and refill his glass before eventually starting up the stairs. She caught Misty's voice, "Hey, Lex, what's up? Ah, damn. No, sorry. I don't take midal."

Frustrated by this answer--Jayde wasn't sure that midal would even work but she was dying to try it--she reluctantly decided to try her purse. Maybe she had stashed a few in there the last time she had been feeling particularly bloated.

She pushed her chair away from the table and scanned the room for any sign of her bag. None. _Maybe I left in on the table by the door_... Jayde hated having to move, but this could potentially be worth it. She trudged toward the stairs where she ran into Misty, "Hey, sexy, how you feeling?" and continued climbing. Disappointed that it wasn't next to the front door, she resigned herself to searching for the room. She _had_ to have some midal somewhere...

Lex was in the middle of the upstairs hall. He smiled softly at Jayde as she conquered the stairs, pausing to catch her breath. He was knocking on Gabby's door.

"Gabby? Hey, Gab, it's Lex. Hello?" He wasn't being loud, but Jayde was sure that even that much provocation would rouse Gabby out of an alcohol-induced sleep. It was almost two--god, really?--anyway. She shuffled along, catching a glimpse of Dominic and Addy chatting in the door of his room. Really there was altogether too much movement going on for her.

Vin wandered out of his room, woken by Lex. Brooke had half-crawled out of hers, dragged along by Sadie.

Finally Ellis stepped out of his room. Jayde was feeling particularly bitchy, and if Lex wasn't going to wake Gabby but not stop knocking, either, she would have to intervene or kill him. Ellis, whose room was directly across from Gabby's, stood not two feet behind Lex.

"She not getting up?" he asked with a yawn. Lex shrugged helplessly.

Jayde, sick of this noise, stomped right up to Gabrielle Molina's door, stepping in front of Lex, and pounded her fist into the wood.

"God _Damnit,_ Gabby, wake your happy ass up! I need some midal!"

Silence. She could feel Ellis' simultaneously inquisitive and disgusted look on the back of her neck but frankly didn't give a shit. "What the fuck is her problem?"

Ellis snuck between the two. "Here, let me--"

The ruckus had drawn the attention of everyone, even Misty, who quietly walked up the steps with a worried look on her face.

Ellis gripped the handle of Gabby's door in his hand and twisted, pushing it open with his shoulder. "Gab-"

The silence was thick enough to weigh. Lex, Ellis and Jayde stood in the threshold of Gabby's room, jaws slack, eyes wide. Misty reached them and peeked into the room.

Her blood-curdling scream was what jolted everyone into action. Ellis blew into the room and dropped to his knees, screaming Gabby's name. Jayde shouldered past Lex to see the scene closer, though she couldn't imagine that her eyes were working correctly. Everyone else came running down the hall to see Gabby, shirtless and pale, the scarf that had served as a noose still taut around her neck. Her eyes were open, lips cracked. Ellis had one limp arm in his hands, feeling for a pulse. She had asphyxiated, her white body only colored in the spots that the scarf had been pulled around her throat, choking her--

Not taking his eyes off of Gabby, Ellis spoke in a tone barely above a whisper.

"Back away. Gabby's dead."


	5. Chapter 4: Razor Sharp, Razor Clean

4.

Razor Sharp, Razor Clean

* * *

Lex was cold.

It wasn't Gabrielle he had seen topless and pale upstairs. It wasn't Gabrielle he saw lifeless and cold. He saw his mother, her lips coated with slowly coagulating blood, her hands limp against her stomach where she had tried in vain to keep pressure on her hemorrhaging wound. He saw her unfocused eyes, not Gabby's. He didn't see Gabby's room or Ellis crouched at her side, screaming. Didn't see Jayde squeeze past him and fall to her knees at the sight of the corpse. He saw his childhood living room. His faceless father, skull empty like a melon that had been scooped clean, with the gun still hooked on his limp finger. He saw all those years without speaking, uttering a single word over the course of his younger years: mommy. He would scream it at night when he was scared or when he had been woken by a nightmare, cherishing her name like a man in his final days clutching a photograph of a long-lost love to his chest or like a mourning mother holding a child's dog tags as his coffin is carried away by his brothers-in-arms. He saw in Gabby's face the haunting reminder of all those years scarred by tragedy--

"Alex. Look at me."

He turned slowly to face Dominic, thinking somewhere below the surface that Dom had never called Lex this before. Always Lex. Dominic was squeezing his hand with a fierce determination to keep him grounded, keep him sane. Dominic's hand in his provided the only warmth Lex could remember. He wasn't worried in the least that someone might see this tiny--and yet monumental--display of affection and put together what was going on between the two. All he cared about was Dominic keeping him safe.

Slowly, word by word, the voices started making sense, the yelling becoming coherent.

Brooke was furious. "What do you _mean_, impossible? She had a rope around her _neck_. She had to have killed herself. We all know she was a miserable, self-pitying bitch anyway!"

"Hey, watch it, Brooke," Vin snapped.

Brooke, turning to shoot a blistering glare at her brother, shouted. "It's true, always been goddamn obvious but everyone pitied her too much to say anything!"

Dominic wasn't screaming back at Brooke, but he squeezed Lex's hand tighter as he spoke, calm and cool, his thoughts articulate and deliberate. He sounded calm, but Lex knew that with every drop in pitch, every precise pronunciation he was becoming more infuriated. Brooke, when upset, got louder. Dominic got quieter, smarter. Better.

"First," he said slowly, "don't insult her. Not now. Second, it _is_ impossible that she committed suicide. Listen--hey, just hear me out. Brooke, stop for one second. I, for one, am terrified." The slightest shift in his tone, a virtual crack in his wall of level-headedness, confirmed this. "But think about what we just saw. She was on the floor. The scarf wasn't attached to anything. She could _not_ have hung herself."

"Then she... god, _choked_ herself with it! Pulled it tight until she--"

"She would have passed out. The scarf would have slackened and she would have started breathing. The only way she could have done it is if we found her hanging from the light fixture--which would have broken--or from the rack in the closet. But she was too tall to hang from that and it wouldn't have held her anyway. That thing couldn't hold _Misty_."

Misty was sobbing, huddled in a corner. Sadie, clearly in shock, was stroking her hair with absent eyes. Vin was pulling at Brooke's belt loop, trying to calm her down and calm himself with the contact. Ellis was clenching and unclenching his fists at the table, occasionally tugging at his hair with such manic fury that it was a wonder he didn't peel off his own scalp. Jayde and Addy seemed to be the only ones in control, Addy biting at her nails and Jayde sitting silently, hands in her lap.

Lex, regaining some control, placed his free hand on Dominic's. The latter had apparently proven his point to Brooke, and Lex was desperate for some kind of contact. Some reassurance that everything was going to be fine; this was all a nightmare.

Jayde was barely audible, her voice pulling things back into the moment. "She was killed."

Dominic squeezed his eyes shut tightly, Lex catching a welling of tears just before he did. Dom had been careful not to state that explicitly, but it needed to be said. A silent tear rolled down his cheek. Lex, unable to take his eyes away, watched as Dominic's facial muscles tensed and his features contorted as he began to cry. It was Lex's turn to squeeze his hand as Dominic drew a shuddering breath, overwhelmed by grief--and terror.

Ellis stood and began to pace back and forth along the length of the bar. Lex softly reached for Dominic's face, wiping the tears from his cheeks, and pulled him into an embrace. He could feel Dominic's hot, ragged breaths on his shoulder. He hugged him tightly, hugged him with all the compassion in the world, and tucked his own face into Dominic's neck. He kissed him softly, barely making contact.

"It's okay," he whispered. He couldn't use his voice, couldn't formulate his words well, and wasn't sure if Dominic had heard him. But Dominic, gasping and expelling a guttural sob, wrapped his arms around Lex and held tightly. He had heard.

Those two words had been said to Lex countless times over the years. Whether said softly by a foster mother who really didn't care or shouted by a playmate after teasing him about not having a 'mommy', he had never believed them. Never felt the full impact of hearing those words from someone who loved him, someone who meant it. That had been true until two weeks prior when Lex had bared his soul to this compassionate, gentle man in his arms. Lex had told his story and Dominic had whispered those two magic words. For the first time, Lex believed them. In that moment they had become true. And now it was his opportunity to share them in return.

"I'm going to the Lodge," said Ellis. Though it sounded like he was stating this more to himself than to those in the room with him, Addy responded.

"There's a phone. Oh my god, there's a phone."

* * *

It immediately became clear that not one member of the on-edge group was eager to be left in the dormitories--not with the body of their dearly departed peer upstairs. They geared up--coats and boots for all, since the snow had begun to fall more heavily. It had eased up for only about a ten minute period since they had arrived, and it seemed to Addy that that moment had been the proverbial eye of the storm. The outside world was cloaked in a white haze. Ahead of them loomed the Lodge's main building. From the parking lot, their viewpoint, it looked like a single story, unimpressive building. But the land sloped sharply on either side of it, and the opposite side of the building was grand. The top story was, during tourist season, a beautiful (if only decent quality) restaurant with an elegant balcony and a dozen windows overlooking the serene lake. The bottom floor would often be rented out for social gatherings like reunions and weddings and its door opened up directly onto the grassy lawn which met Grizzly Lake's sandy shore.

Now the building sat quiet and dark. The handful of cabins in the trees beyond, sealed and inoperable ten months of the year, were barely visible through the cold paper precipitation. They had no power or plumbing, used mostly by campers or tourists who resisted the need for a full bed and a bathroom in the dormitories. And something about them caught Misty's eye, drew her attention unexpectedly. Something ominous.

But there they were, following Brooke up the steps to the main doors of the Lodge. The bitter winter wind, though harsh, was incapable of breaching the fortified warmth of Misty's down--yet totally stylish--parka. Still, the chill creeping up her spine invaded her senses, penetrating her body and her sense of security.

She was scared.

Brooke and Vin both had copies of the Lodge's keys--one for the dormitories and one for the main building. The keys for the cabins and various other locks around the Lodge were all stored in the main building itself. Keeping the keys there made for lighter key chains. Their Uncle was the caretaker for Grizzly Lake Lodge during the summers, Misty knew, and that was how they had managed to get themselves this place for the weekend. It was really a nice place, serene and beautiful... but Gabby's body had changed all that. Now the silence that surrounded them was threatening and sinister instead of calming and peaceful. The isolation dangerous rather than convenient. The place could potentially be a death trap.

Brooke had the front doors unlocked. She held them open for someone else to enter, clearly none too excited to enter the large, dark lodge first. Instead Vin stepped up, shoulders adjusting ever so slightly backwards, making him look aggressive. Combative. Whether this was something he had done consciously or just a response to his fear, Misty wasn't sure. But she knew that each and every one of them was scared. One by one they filtered into the Lodge, and as Misty looked back and out the doors her stomach twisted. It was early afternoon, not even two, but the sun was hanging dangerously close to the mountains on the horizon.

They followed Vin to the front desk of the Lodge which was just inside the door. He made his way around it and to the counter behind. Misty would have sworn there was a brief hesitation before he reached for the phone receiver. The chill returned and she stepped closer to Ellis, brushing his arm with hers, keeping herself grounded.

Vin lifted the receiver to his ear and held it there. His expression didn't falter; there was no visible change in his demeanor. But after a moment he set the receiver back down it its cradle. The room's silence shifted to a tense fear that seemed to have life of its own. It was breathing down Misty's neck, brushing against her legs, looming in front of her.

No one spoke and she would have been surprised if someone breathed. The tension was painful and threatened to spread its thorny jaws and devour each and every one of them in a single, crashing snap of its icy mouth.

But Vin lifted the receiver again. Held it to his ear. His breath was coming in short, jagged spurts as he lowered his finger and tried resetting the line. His face was steel. It wasn't until he set the receiver back down and exhaled that the tension finally snapped and Dominic's voice broke the silence.

"No."

Vin didn't respond in words or gestures. But the way his eyes shifted to the left said it all.

"Don't tell me the phone doesn't work," snarled Ellis, startling Misty. She stepped back from him as his voice rose, "Don't tell me that. DON'T FUCKING PLAY WITH ME, VIN. DON'T YOU--"

The cell phones were all drawn at once like revolvers in a quick draw. Brooke, one of the few without phones, spoke with a voice pregnant with rage and disgust.

"Like you've got service in the ten minutes since you last checked," she chided sourly.

Misty's silent terror was morphing into a sick anger that was pulling at her knotted stomach. Brooke's pessimism and Ellis' antagonistic attitude toward Vin struck her as completely counterproductive and unnecessary, even cruel. Like they were sabotaging each other in a sick attempt to make this day, this present danger, worse than it already was.

Fueled by a racing mind and blindsided by panicked mania, Misty's breath began coming quicker and in shallower bursts. _Jesus, Gabby is dead. She's dead and we don't have a phone, there's nobody anywhere around here and she's dead, oh my god she's dead, what are we going to do, she's dead..._ Never having suffered any sort of anxiety attack before, Misty lost all control suddenly and with a staggering amount of speed. Her sanity and self control spun out of control like a semi in neutral down an icy incline and then was gone.

Hyperventilating, she could only comprehend the walls of the Lodge, its doors and the icy steps beyond flashing by in a hazy blur of panic before she snapped to. Kneeling in the foot-deep snow, freezing, her friends crowded around her. Screaming her name, getting her attention, making her focus. It was Lex that coaxed her out of her mania. It occurred to her at some point that he must have some experience with anxiety attacks--he was so proficient at calming her down.

"Misty," cooed Jayde as she came to her senses, "sweetie, stand up. You're going to get soaked."

Complying, Misty struggled to her feet. Still a bit confused, she surveyed those around her.

"I lost it."

Vin, chuckling with a relieved tone, offered, "Yeah, you did. But you're fine now, right?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "I think so." Her voice cracked as she continued, "I just want to get out of here. I don't feel good."

"We have to do something anyway," agreed Vin, "we've got to get help."

Misty's eyes were drawn to the cabins beyond him. Something still bothered her, pulled at the back of her senses trying to alert her to something she should be seeing, should notice...

"Shit," she whispered suddenly. Alarmed, Vin followed her gaze down, to the ground behind him. Sadie and Addy softly calming Misty, trying to keep her stable. Presuming she was starting to panic again, they tried to diffuse her anxiety like a bomb. She stopped them cold with a simple lift of her arm, a stiffening of a finger. She was pointing.

"Footprints."

* * *

Addison, like everyone else, was dreading what they might find beyond the doors of the cabins. In yet another argument between Ellis and Vin, they had established that the footprints were relatively fresh. At least six inches of snow had collected on the frozen ground since their arrival and even the tire tracks from their snow-covered vehicles had been filled by it. Ellis argued that with all the coming in and out of the dormitories for cigarettes and such, someone must have wandered over to the cabins in a drunken stupor. However, none of them recalled doing such a thing and these footprints were too clear, too new to have been from the night before.

The only logical explanation was that they were not alone.

The cabins, really just glorified yurts, were relatively primitive and thus had only simple lock mechanisms, only capable of locking from within. They were empty, and unlocked, during the off months. Four of the twelve cabins, meant for families, were separated into two sections. Each section had its own exiting door, one in front, facing the lodge, and one facing the camp's restroom and shower facilities just beyond the last cabin. Between the two 'rooms' was a third door separating one from the other. A bunk bed and futon served as the only furnishings inside the cabin. So although there was almost no place to hide, Addison's heart was caught in her throat. She was dreading what they would find inside.

They had followed the footprints directly to the front door of cabin 4. The interior was dark and they could see nothing through the windows. The prints led up the stairs and disappeared at the threshold.

Addy watched as Vin approached the door, trying to quietly ascend the aging wooden stairs. The door was right there, not quite closed, ready for him to push right through it and expose the cabin's darkness to the light from outside and the eyes watching from a safe distance. The terror was evident in his face, in his movements, in his posture. He was trembling--something Addy had never seen and never expected to see him do. He peered back at those gathered, his eyes pleading. Ellis was standing on the step just below Vin, on the opposite side of the stairs so he could see right inside after Vin swung the door open. They were waiting for the go-ahead.

It came from Brooke who met her brother's eyes and with grim resignation in hers; she nodded. Mouthed a single word, 'go.'

Vin squeezed his eyes shut and slammed the door inward, stepping back as it swung open to reveal the cabin's innards.

Like the crashing of cymbals, the door nearly splintered. It swung wide into darkness and silence resumed. As the stillness consumed them, the group held their breath, the wind in the branches conceding to the air of deafening silence and heart pounding calm. Gathering his nerves, Ellis stepped upward, his foot catching early and thumping the stair. The bass drum, the kicked wood, sent a horrified shiver like resounding vibrations through the petrified friends. The tension, their terror, bound their limbs and the sound of that misstep assaulted their ears. Though hardly a loud noise, it raged through the quiet and calm of the lakeside and drew all their eyes. Continuing upward with a pained grimace, Ellis reached again and his foot found its mark. But crunching the snow like the tap of a snare drum continued the panic rising inside Addy. She knew in a sick way that if anyone hid there, inside the dark cabin, they would be ready for Ellis. She heard nothing except for his movements and prayed that the cabin was empty and they'd find nothing. Now at the door Ellis peered through the threshold, the drum roll that was building not truly a noise but the frightened and rising tension that threatened to tear Addy's sanity if his inspection found anything other than dust. It rose and it quickened, the terrible fear, and Ellis' voice stopped it right in its tracks.

"Empty!"

A collective sigh of relief from the group outside the cabin.

Ellis waved at Vin to step forward, join him inside the cabin. He turned to the rest, inviting them to ascend those stairs and come into the shelter of the cabin. They did just that, and without the heart pounding tension there were no drums, no drum rolls of anticipation or kicks of surprise. The drums of tense horror had gone.

Addy followed Brooke into the cabin, and soon they all stood collected in its center. Misty opened her mouth to speak but Addy, noticing something, shushed her. Catching Ellis' eye, she pointed to a door barely visible past the bunk bed. It was ajar.

The fear returned as they realized there was another section to this cabin, one where a killer could potentially be hiding. However, inside the cabin there was no need for percussion to build the tension... it was too quiet. Their entrance had undoubtedly alerted anyone inside to their presence. The only ones who could be surprised were them.

Ellis again motioned for Vin to join him and together they prepared to repeat the process of entering the cabin. Ellis counted on his fingers, 'one, two, three' and Vin kicked in the door. Ellis disappeared beyond it and the room fell silent. Addy couldn't stand the suspense; Ellis was taking so long to give the all-clear…

"Empty!" he called suddenly from the other side of the cabin, startling the group. Addy had jumped at the noise, clutching at her chest. "Come look at this," he called, and there were chuckles and sighs of relief all around.

"See," Brooke whispered to Misty, "it's fine. Everything's okay."

Sadie was talking to Lex, "You okay? I thought you were going to faint there for a minute."

Misty waved off Brooke and dropped herself on the futon. "I need to sit." Addy looked back at Misty before passing into the second section of the cabin; she looked tired, emotionally drained. Poor girl.

Ellis was at the back door of the cabin, kneeling at the threshold. "More footprints," he said, "and they're coming towards the cabin. Not like somebody left this way, like they _came in_ through this door." The footprints, as far as they could see them in the falling snow, originated somewhere beyond the cabins, near the lake.

"But..." Addy's voice was shaking, and she had to concentrate on her words, "if they came in from that way, they couldn't have come in this way, too. They would have had to leave..."

"Walking backwards," finished Dominic. He paled. "Meaning they either walked backwards toward the lake, or..."

"Backwards toward the dorms." Addy felt sick. This couldn't possibly be happening. They were alone, a friend dead... there couldn't be a killer out there. No, she wouldn't believe it--

A thump from the next room drew their attention. Jayde called with a trembling voice, "Misty? You okay, hon?"

There was no response. No one moved. Addy's heart was beating, pounding like a hammer. She couldn't breathe; the air wouldn't leave her lungs. So she stood, swallowing her rising bile.

Jayde rose and set a hand on Addy's shoulder, stopping her. "I'm sure it's fine," whispered Jayde, her voice cracking, "she just, you know, fainted. She panicked again." But her voice, thick with terror, belied her reassuring statements. Jaw set with a steel determination, she approached the door to the next room. All eyes were fixed on her, following her with a dreadful doubt.

Their backs to the open door, no one saw the shadowed figure dashing through the woods away from the cabins.

Jayde stepped through the door and into the room beyond. Her eyes focused on the futon. The first tear was silent. The next was accompanied by a high-pitched wail filled to the brim with despair as Jayde's knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor. Rushing into the room all at once, Addy's breath finally found her. It came out in sharp, jagged bursts, somewhere between a horrified sigh and a brokenhearted moan.

Misty's entire torso was crimson with blood. Her head tilted back at a sharp angle like a grotesque macabre pez dispenser, her hair brushing the dusty floor. One arm, hanging limply off of the futon, was still dripping the blood that had been spilled and had since stopped flowing. The other was lifelessly draped along her chest, her fingers still grazing the bottom gaping gash where a blade had been torn through her throat, smoothly severing everything from ear to ear.

She hadn't made a sound.


	6. Chapter 5: The Dreams in Which I'm Dying

For Dominic Sinclair, there was blackness.

The darkness was all-encompassing, consuming everything he had ever known, ever thought, ever dreamed. There was no Dominic Sinclair anymore, just the darkness. It was warm. Soft. Silent. He breathed softly, in and out, taking the darkness within him. He was the darkness. Like the warmth of the womb he felt comfortable, at ease. Innocent. Undisturbed, still. He was happy.

The cough changed it all. He could feel himself coughing somewhere outside of this blackness, somewhere cold. Wet. Painful. The surrounding darkness began to spin, and although he couldn't see the movement he could feel it. Like he was dizzy. Something was wrong with his haven, his cocoon of absence. He existed here, but he was somewhere else. He was being pulled from the enrapturing blackness, yanked against his will. The dizziness got worse and again, a cough formed in his throat and exploded from his lips seemingly a thousand miles away.

Then the spots started appearing at the corners of the blackness. _No,_ he pleaded. It wasn't a conscious thought, but a subliminal terror. _No, don't take me away, don't..._

Dominic opened his eyes, the light blinding him, and immediately retched, vomiting out of the open door of his pickup and almost onto the feet planted there. _Why am I in my truck?_ Then hands, large and ominous, entered his vision in a flash, grabbing at his coat and pulling him from the truck. Head spinning, he hit the ground hard as he was dragged from the truck, tasting metal. Blood on his lips. Noise started fading in, making sense. He realized he could hear but wasn't registering the voices, the words, the screams. Bewildered, he followed the feet in front of him up, up the legs and body to the face of Vince, his eyes wild with fury and swollen from crying.

Vin dropped to his knees at Dominic's feet, the latter wincing at a sudden burst of head pain and pulling away from Vin's groping hands. Frustrated and confused, Dominic's vision faded in and out of focus. Vin grabbed his jacket again and pulled him close, embracing him. Dominic could feel Vin's racking sobs but couldn't distinguish them from all the other noise. It was Vin's words, sobbed into Dominic's ear, that finally made sense.

"I'm sorry, Dommy, I'm so sorry. God, I just... I'm sorry." The tears overwhelmed him again and he broke down.

-

The screaming wasn't stopping. Jayde, hands bloody from grabbing Misty's shirt, refusing to believe what was happening, had fallen silent. In shock. It was Lex who, leading her by the arm, ushered her outside and into the snow. Sadie was overcome with such a sense of enveloping dread that the cabin seemed to be suffocating her. Closing in. Pressing down on her shoulders, tightening her lungs, strangling her with its ominous calm. Brooke was screaming--not as much a horrified, blood curdling shriek as it was an angry, roaring denial. At one point she had lunged toward Misty as though to hurt her, attack her for dying. For her life being horrifyingly cut short by some unknown, unseen assailant they had yet to identify or even confirm. Vin, following Lex's lead, had dragged her into the snow and out of the cabin. Her screaming didn't stop.

Dominic had been the next to go. His exit seemed odd and Sadie wasn't immediately aware of it, but when she would later think back she noticed the difference. Not so much horrified or disbelieving, he had moved in a way that expressed determination. Focus. Anger.

All the color had gone out of Addy's face. She looked like she was either going to faint or vomit, and Sadie wasn't eager to see either--neither, apparently, was Ellis. He softly grabbed Addy's shoulder and began to steer her to the door. Seeing Sadie, he caught her arm as well. His touch startled Sadie. She flinched, her gasp prompting Ellis to retreat for a moment. Then he grabbed her wrist and led her outside.

"Come on. Now. Don't look anymore," he said, voice stern. He was trying to keep control, keep everyone in control.

Into the cold. The snow that had collected in her hair and on her clothes had melted in the short time they spent in the cabin, and Sadie was colder now than she had been on the way there. She felt sick and half-wondered if she was as pale as Addy. Regardless, the three stomped through the snow back toward the dormitories, the group's collected tracks erasing all traces of the initial path they had followed. Sadie wasn't worrying about what they had concluded while in the cabin--that the footprints were backwards, leading to the dormitories--she was still too shocked. No, none of them were thinking about that. They were fleeing toward the dormitories, eager to get away from the cabin and back to the warmth of the building, back to somewhere they had felt secure.

The sound of a door slamming caught Sadie's attention. It was the only thing she really heard. She could see Dominic's pickup, the collected snow having slipped off of the driver's side door when it had shut, and his silhouette inside. At the wheel. This sight comforted her. A warm relaxation flowed through her body, the thought that they were going to get out of here, going to escape. They didn't need a phone, they didn't need to stay and find out who the killer was. They would drive wherever they needed, until they got phone service, and they would stay far away from Grizzly Lake and its horrifying lodge. They would be safe.

The pickup's engine coughed and sputtered for a moment before it roared to life. She could feel a faint smile building inside of herself. The familiar sound comforted her.

The truck idled for a moment as Dominic let it warm up--not long; he was as ready as anyone to get out of this place. She heard it shift into gear, into reverse so he could pull away from the snow burm and turn to the road. Escape. His truck moved an inch, trying to pull itself out of the snow collected beneath it. The windshield wipers sent snow flying in every direction. She heard him push the gas, trying to get moving. The truck seemed to float on top of the snow for a moment, cresting the packed snow and lurching into motion. It jumped backwards and started rolling as he got free of the snow.

Savior.

She could see him cranking the wheel, turning to face the road. It was now angled with its front end pointing away from Sadie, Ellis and Addy, the tailgate visible. A flash of red as the brake lights ignited, reflecting off of the snow on the bumper. But the truck didn't slow. The gas he had given it was propelling it backwards at a decent speed, sending snow in every direction. It kept its momentum. The brake lights flashed, on and off and on again. They made no difference.

The truck was hurtling backwards and showed no sign of stopping. The roaring engine was suddenly a horrifying, terrorizing noise as opposed to the calming sound of safety Sadie had interpreted it as.

As the scene began to unfold it seemed to happen in slow motion, Sadie taking in the whole picture and her heart skipping a beat. Dominic, panicking, cranked the wheel and the truck glided back toward the dormitories, toward the trees between them and the lodge. Toward Vin and Brooke. Though it happened in an instant, it played out in Sadie's eyes as an agonizing minute. The truck barreled backward, brake lights still flashing on and off, starting to slow without the aid of the gas pedal but not slowing enough, the tailgate hurtling toward Vin and Brooke, Vin seeing what was happening and grabbing Brooke's jacket to pull her out of the way, his hand slipping away and his body tumbling backwards and hitting the ground just as the bumper caught Brooke by the hip and she seemed to bend so her head slammed against the snow covered tailgate and her neck looked wrong like it was at an impossible angle and she slipped down she fell down and disappeared beneath the truck as it seemed to float over her and didn't stop moving until it slammed into a tree and the front end rose a few inches at the impact and Dominic's head smashed against the steering wheel and everything was still. Everything except for the lazily wafting snowflakes, gliding in the wind, slowly going round and round. They floated to the ground and disappeared in the sea of white.

It wasn't until Vin began to scream, his inhuman and primal wail colder than the wind that was steadily picking up its speed across the lake that Sadie began to absorb what had just happened. She was torn in two, part of her disbelieving, cold and stoic, and the other a flurry of emotion. Vin was struggling to his feet, Addy had collapsed to her knees and Ellis was still. Catching herself from falling over--her head was spinning and she thought she might faint, her knees literally weak--Sadie called Vin's name. Tried to call his name. Opened her mouth and mouthed it, but her voice wasn't working.

Finally to his feet, Vin flew in a rage of fiery, blinding fury through the icy snow and slammed into the door of the truck. He hadn't stopped to breathe. He was still screaming, his voice beginning to crack and falter. Sadie knew what was coming; she had seen it the moment Brooke was hit. It couldn't happen. She wouldn't let it. Her legs working separately from her mind, they carried her toward the truck, toward Vin and toward an unconscious Dominic. She had to stop him.

Vin was clawing at the door and finally managed to pry it open. Sadie couldn't see his eyes but knew that even if she could, there would be no Vin behind them. A 'temper', he called it, his blind rage and manic violent fury would be all that was occupying that space. The old cliche, 'eyes are the window to the soul' could, she felt, be applied here. When Vin lost control, there was no soul within him. The only things hidden beneath his flesh and behind his eyes were flames. She could see Vin grab Dominic by the hair and yank his neck at an unnatural and dangerous angle, forcing Dominic's already bloody face to his. Arm cocked behind him, Vin was prepared to swing. He had the potential to kill Dominic.

_But at least he's knocked out,_ Sadie's mind whispered, barely audible over the screams and roaring truck and barely heard among her racing thoughts, _the killer won't have to get him. He'll never see it coming. Mercy..._

Vin's arm propelled forward, a wrecking ball fist to Dominic's porcelain face. She screamed, her voice lost beneath the impact of that first blow, knuckles cracking into Dominic's temple. She tried again, just as Vin was pulling back to repeat the swing.

-

"Vincent Archibald Watson!"

"Hey, my middle name's not Archibald, Sadie."

"...since when?"

"Uh, birth?"

She was standing in the doorway of his bedroom, eyebrow cocked. Sadie knew he wasn't lying about his middle name--it was actually Joseph--but he hadn't given her time to remember that. Walking past his open bedroom door he had launched something at her--turned out to be his finished apple core--and she had retaliated. With his full name.

Sometimes she couldn't decide if she felt more matronly to him than attracted. It was an odd ambivalence, but somehow drew her more to him. Laughing despite herself, she picked up the apple and threw it back at him. It caught him in the shoulder and bounced off, and the look on his face was priceless. Half _did you really just throw that at me_ and half _oh yeah, now it's on, Sadie._ She could read him like a picture book and knew what was coming, so she turned to flee from the room with a giggle. Before she could make it out into the relative safety of the hallway, though, the apple caught her in the back of the head. She winced.

"Ouch, Vin, that hurt. Jackass." She decided to play the pouty no-fair card. Draw him in closer.

It was working. He rose from his bed and approached, body language syncing up with his apologetic tone. He looked genuinely sorry; worried that he had hurt her.

"Are you okay?"

"No," she snapped, "it hurts."

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

_Yes._ "No!" She pulled away from his reaching hands, trying to comfort her. "I want you to leave me alone."

"Jesus, sorry." He sounded insulted.

She waited until she was sure his back was turned to pick the apple back up and launch it back in his direction. It caught him in the small of the back and she giggled, running out of the room.

"Cheater!" he yelled after her.

"Sadie!" snapped Brooke from farther down the hall, "stop flirting with my brother and get over here!"

-

"Vin!" Her voice was lost in the wind or totally inaudible to Vin as he pounded Dominic's skull again. "Stop! Vin!" She was becoming frantic; Vin's hits were devastating and Dominic was already unconscious, probably concussed and unable to defend himself. Again and again Vin's fist found Dominic's face, spilling blood all around him and the snow. Sadie pulled all her strength into her voice, a last-ditch effort to stop the violence. Lex and Jayde were trying to pull Brooke from beneath the truck. Sadie didn't want to get directly in the middle of the one-sided brawl; surely she would come out with her own bruises. A last breath, a last scream she tried to let be heard over Vin's wailing.

"Vincent Joseph Watson! Stop!"

Vin hesitated as he pulled his arm back again. He had heard her. Movement on the other side of Vin; Dominic was retching, vomiting blood. Vin snapped back to reality, the terror easing from Sadie's bones. He pulled Dominic out of the truck, dragged him backwards through the snow and finally collapsed next to him. Sadie, running to meet them, heard Vin's whimpers, "I'm sorry, Dommy, I'm sorry..."

Sadie, hot with rage and relief, grabbed Vin by the collar, emotions driving her body. She pulled him in, close, and kissed him with such passion her lips seemed to burn. She hated him, oh did she hate him, but she had always loved him.

Dominic, voice weak and broken, whispered, "Oh my god... Brooke?"

As if in reply, Jayde yelled from the other side of the truck, "Brooke's okay! She's alive!"

Vin dropped his gaze back to Dominic, tears freely flowing. "What happened, Dom?"

Dominic, in a daze, breathed, "I couldn't stop."

-

Ellis pulled off his coat as he entered the dormitories, kicking the snow off of his boots. Brooke, bloodied and slipping in and out of consciousness, was gently settled on one of the sofas, a bag of frozen fries held to her forehead by Vin to try and stop the swelling of her brow. The room was clearly divided, with Sadie at Brooke's feet. Dominic was being carefully tended to by Lex and Addy. Jayde was the only one not confined to a corner of the room; walking back and forth, bringing whatever was requested to those who needed it.

Ellis, the only one in the room who had ever taken any kind of Automotives class and the only one with any real knowledge about vehicles past oil changing and shifting into four-by-four, had been sent outside to check Dominic's truck and see what had caused the horrible accident, if anything. His gaze was solemn as he stepped into the room. His gloved hands were covered in oil and his face was red from the cold.

There was a clear sense of relief as he entered the room. Though it was never put to words, there was an overwhelming since of dread gripping those in the room that Ellis wouldn't return, that he would fall victim to the Grizzly Lake killer. Now that he was back he could see the slight change in the room's tone.

_Poor Brooke,_ he thought, _never saw it coming. _He knew that she might not survive the hour if her injuries were severe enough, and felt a mixed pain and relief. She wouldn't have to see death staring her in the face before she went.

Vin broke the silence. Though he had calmed down considerably, he had been waiting for Ellis' diagnosis of the truck to see if he was righteous in his beating of Dominic. "What's the news, doc?"

Ellis sighed, his voice soft and dark. He wasn't happy to be saying what he was about to. "The brake lines on Dominic's truck were severed." He waited for the rising muttering to die down before he continued, noticing Vin's shamed look. "Intentionally. Someone cut through them so that they wouldn't work. And--" he was cut off by six questions at once and raised his voice to speak over them, "--my truck is the same. So is Vin's car and Gabby's van. All sabotaged."

The sick horror that gripped those in the room was like a tide, rising among them, beneath their feet and climbing upwards with every ebb. It threatened to rise and rise until it found its way into their lungs and asphyxiated them on their own fear. Their friends were dying. Ellis himself was sickened by the very thought and no matter how hard he tried to keep the thoughts at bay, his brother kept popping into his mind. _I saw him dead. I've lived this nightmare before._

He remembered the night it had happened. The party was wild but casual, high energy among friends from school and work. He personally knew everyone there and was enjoying himself greatly. Brooke was especially wild that night, and when he had snuck her into the storage room his mind had been blown. But, like everything, the party had to come to an end. Jeremy had been completely trashed, more so that usual. Ellis hadn't batted an eye. Instead he went to sleep with Brooke in his arms, waking up at one point to hear Jeremy retching in the next room.

The next day he had risen first--he only slept short amounts when he had been drinking--and went to check on his brother. He knew the minute he opened the door that something was wrong. His brother was still, sleeping on his back--something he never did--and he was pale. So pale...

When the paramedics arrived it was far too late. Jeremy had asphyxiated on his own vomit sometime in the middle of the night and what tore Ellis to pieces was that he had heard it. That may have been the retch that did him in. But Johnny boy didn't do a thing other than move in closer to Brooke. If he had climbed out of bed to check on his brother, maybe things would have ended differently. He would still have a brother; Gabby would be happily married...

But someone was killing these people. It wasn't simply a case of party-gone-wrong. They were being attacked.

Jayde, in the kitchen, started sobbing. With everyone else preoccupied with their injured comrades, Ellis found her alone.

"What's wrong, honey?" he asked gently. She was nearing hyperventilation and her face was slick with tears. A sense of dread lodged itself in his stomach. "Jayde... what's wrong?"

"I'm so scared," she choked. "There's no way out. No phones, no cars... we're trapped! Trapped with a killer..."

He pulled her close. "I promise you, things will be just fine."


	7. Chapter 6: Shadow Crawling in My Head

6.

The Shadow Crawling in My Head

* * *

Things were winding down. The emotional exhaustion of the day had taken its toll on the friends, wearing them out to the point of physical exhaustion. Feeling it safer to stay together, they had moved to the third floor of the dormitories where the rooms each had two beds. Staying in a block of four rooms seemed much more secure than spreading themselves along the second-floor hallway where Gabby had been strangled. And though no one would say it, it was clear none of them were comfortable in such close proximity with a corpse.

Sadie and Brooke were in one room, though Vin seldom left Brooke's side. She had been unconscious for the last three hours and there was a contagious fear that she was bleeding internally and was slipping away, little by little. Dominic and a very nurturing Lex were directly across the hall, next door to Addison and Jayde. Across from them, next to Sadie and Brooke's room, Ellis and Vin had set up. They had nothing besides the clothes on their back and the belongings in their pockets for fear that their second-floor rooms were now home to a sinister slasher--the person who had strangled Gabby and horribly killed Misty. They decided that it was better to leave the rooms--and their belongings in those rooms--alone. The images of the deaths were still fresh--and would forever be embedded--in their minds, but the emergency at hand was a perfect excuse to not dwell on those. Brooke was developing a fever and Dominic clearly had a concussion and couldn't keep anything stomached, whether this was due to the impact of the wreck or from Vin's devastating blows no one knew.

"My mouth..." Lex sat up immediately at the sound of Dominic's voice. Looking over at his lover, he saw Dominic with a wash rag draped over his eyes and his tongue moving behind his lips. Lex knew what was wrong before Dominic said--really, croaked--it.

"My mouth is so dry," he moaned.

Lex knew that all the vomiting he had been doing had quickly dehydrated Dom's body and he desperately needed to be rehydrated. He would only feel worse if he wasn't. So Lex rose from his sitting position on the bed next to Dominic's and reached for his hand. Dominic squeezed in acknowledgement. Lex looked down at him, devastated by how torn and battered he looked. There was dried blood on his lips from where Vin's fists had busted it open, one cheekbone was darkening with a bruise, a large welt on his forehead was rapidly swelling beneath the warm cloth and his eyes were swelling shut. When his truck had hit the tree he had slammed into the steering wheel with the bridge of his nose, immediately causing two shiners and possibly fracturing the bone. Without medical attention he would be in great pain very soon. As it was, he was so dizzy and incoherent due to the concussion that he had trouble standing at all. All Lex could do was comfort him until they figured out some way to get help from thirty miles away--without phones or vehicles.

"Stay still," Lex said softly, "I'll go get you some water."

He let Dominic's hand drop back onto the bed and left the room, shutting the door softly behind him. Sadie and Brooke's door was open, but he knocked out of respect as he approached. Sadie and Vin, hands entwined, looked up as Lex poked his head into the room. "How's she doing?" he asked softly.

"We're not sure," responded Sadie, voice heavy with emotion, "she hasn't woken up. And we don't know how bad she's hurt..."

Vin bit his lip at the words, fighting to hold back his tears.

"I'm going downstairs to get stuff for Dom," he said with a wave toward the door, "you feel like coming? I'm not too eager to go it alone..."

Sadie wiped her eyes with a sniffle and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'll come with you."

As she stood to leave the room, she turned back to Vin. Her sad eyes consoling, she asked, "Are you going to be okay? Do you need anything?"

He shook his head, and said, "I'm just going to use the restroom," standing up. His legs were shaking.

Sadie, turning to Lex, ran a hand through her hair as she asked, "Um, Ellis and the girls are downstairs already, aren't they?"

"I think so," Lex responded, shrugging slightly. He turned and walked to Addy and Jayde's open door--empty, then turned around to see Vin and Ellis' room in the same state of abandonment. He could hear Sadie softly consoling Vin. Lex, beginning to walk down the hall, paused after a few steps to wait for Sadie. As she started following him, he called to Vin.

"Keep an eye on them, 'kay?"

Vin just nodded. He followed Lex and Sadie's lead down the hall but stopped to enter the restroom at the half-point. Lex and Sadie made it to the stairs and began their descent, both keeping a wary eye and ear on their surroundings. Paranoid or just on-edge, they were coiled like a spring ready to jump at the slightest provocation.

"We were using Gatorade as chaser for that Svetka last night, weren't we?" asked Lex, his voice unusually high. He seemed to be trying to keep the silence at bay.

"Yeah," said Sadie. "I'm not sure if there's any left, we drank all the Svetka. We can check, though, because Gatorade's got electrolytes... right? That's why you're asking?" Her words came fast and forced. Both quickened their pace down the stairs, eager to be in the company of others. _Safety in numbers,_ thought Lex.

-

The bathroom faucet was running hot water, the steam billowing up and clinging to the mirror above. Vin stared at himself in said mirror, searching his eyes for answers. This was too much for one day. He felt sick, like someone had shaken his head and bounced his brain off of the insides of his skull until he felt a sense of detachment. Disassociation of the worst kind. The tears rolling from his eyes weren't from grief or worry, but from sheer mental exhaustion.

He turned off the faucet without bothering to stick his hands into the burning water. As the last of it twisted down the drain he saw something white in his hair. It reminded him of snow but as he reached to feel it he realized it was a small white feather. He pulled it from his hair, wondering whether it came from his down parka or one of the down pillows in the bedrooms. It clung to his finger as he pulled it away and though he tried to shake it off, he ultimately had to wipe it off in the damp sink. Those feathers had a tendency to be tenacious--he had always hated them.

He made sure to turn off the lights as he exited the restroom. Old habits die hard. Brooke had changed his bathroom habits entirely since she hit puberty. The instant she began obsessing over her self-image, it was a blow to their parents' bank account. They had already enrolled Vin in seasonal sports and forked out tons of money for his equipment and memorabilia and twice a year bought him and his father plane tickets out of Alaska and to Seattle to watch the Seahawks play. Vin, while frustrated that his home state didn't have any professional league sports teams (with the exception of hockey, which he would eagerly embrace once he hit high school), was glad that he didn't have to root for the 'home team'. It seemed like every season he had a new favorite NFL team, new NBA favorite and new MLB team to obsess over. Brooke was of course not interested in any of these affairs and chose to instead be content with her Alaskan life.

Until puberty. It started with cheap lip glosses and nail polishes and quickly ascended to jewelry and expensive 'authentic' make up, clothes, etc. She started screaming at him every time she walked into the bathroom to see the toilet seat up or the lights left on. Apparently the labels on her favorite eye shadows explicitly stated 'keep out of direct light'.

It wasn't until Sadie started coming around that Vin really made an effort to leave the toilet seat down and turn off the lights. She had been a little bit goofy looking during middle school but had a charm and a definite cuteness that Vin loved. He never really grew out of that kindergarten 'I'm mean to you because I have a crush on you' phase, but she seemed in tune to his vibes. Then in their sophomore year her bosom had exploded into maturity, seemingly overnight, and she started getting attention from all the boys. She had plenty of boyfriends and a never-ending queue of flirters and oglers, but she seemed to be herself around Vin. Didn't put on that man-eater overconfident facade she had picked up from Brooke. With Vin she had always been real.

Under any other circumstances he would be over the moon about her kiss and their proximity. Thinking like that was completely inappropriate at a time like this. Nothing would be the same after this. Whatever had grown between them since dawn would either be placed on the back burner or thrown into its flames depending on how this whole thing turned out. Escape was on his mind. Safety was on his mind. But at the forefront of every thought was Brooke.

He used his shirt sleeve to pat his face dry as he approached her room. Dominic's door was open, just as Lex had left it, but he only saw Dominic inside. Lex and Sadie apparently hadn't returned, but not a lot of time had passed since they had left.

His stomach dropped the instant he entered Brooke's room. He could feel the difference in the air, the feeling that something was wrong. He hesitated in the threshold, terrified of going inside and seeing his worst nightmare come true, but his heart leaping into his throat persuaded him to enter. He had to see. Had to know...

Brooke's mouth was open. This was the first sign that something was wrong. It had been shut tight before he had left. His vision was shaky and his heart was drowning out all other sound, so he couldn't immediately tell if she was breathing or not. But every fraction of a second that he didn't see her chest rise made his heart louder and louder until it beat against his eardrums like a hammer.

Devastated and disbelieving, he dove to her side, putting a hand on her chest and the other on her arm, hoping--praying--for some sign of life. Nothing came. She didn't move.

His tears were silent, rolling down his face. His eyes found her hair and traced her features, from her brows to her chin, her perfect complexion, the beauty she always exhibited taking her twin's breath away even in death. He was shaking and his face was contorted in silent pain, this excruciating blow taking the breath right out of him. He didn't know what to do in that moment, so he hugged her. Stood over her and wrapped his arms behind her neck, cradling his little sister's head, sobbing quietly in her ear, stroking her hair one last time. He had always been so proud of her, had felt so blessed to have the prom queen as his little sister. The heartbreaker all the boys mooned after, the girl who was earning her law degree and would undoubtedly rock the world with her charm one day. But this was all gone, her future evaporated just like that. He knew she couldn't feel a thing but was still worried that he'd hurt his little sister with his squeezing arms.

Pulling away, trembling, he gently set her head back on the pillow. His tears had fallen on her cheek and with despair weighing his arm down he wiped the moisture away. Whimpering. He just happened to catch a glimpse of white in her mouth as he lifted his head. Stuck in one corner of her lips, a feather. Another--this one really just a white filament from a feather--was just on the inside of her nostril. His breath caught. The down pillow she had her head propped up with was on the floor.

It all clicked in his mind at once and he felt as though the thought alone would kill him. The pillow, pressed over Brooke's face, her lungs trying desperately to pull in air, the feathers clinging to her face...

Vin spun around, ready to bolt from the room when the movement in the closet caught his eye, and he knew that it wasn't the thought that would ultimately kill him. His eyes met the killer's for a split second... a second that felt like infinity. His voice, raw from sobbing, seemed to materialize for one final exclamation. His eyes were wide, his jaw slack.

"No fucking way--"

The flat end of the splitting maul found his skull, right above the ear, the impact shattering that side of the skull, the force sending him flying sideways and falling on top of his sister, the blood splatter dripping off the walls.

The killer wiped the blood off of their face with a steady hand, immediately regretting the use of a down pillow to suffocate the Brooke bitch. The killer pulled their hand away, the white feathers coming free in the blood. Those feathers stuck to fucking _everything.

* * *

_

_Death Count: Casualties--Gabby, Misty, Brooke, Vin.  
_


End file.
